Lib Dem Leader in Rochdale, Councillor Andy Kelly has reported Greater Manchester Police to a police watchdog for failing to log calls. Greater Manchester Police has failed to log more than 38,000 calls – including an astonishing 25% of violent crimes. Now the Lib Dems are calling for a thorough investigation by the Independent Police Complaint’s Commission. The force, run by Labour politician and current Mayor Tony Lloyd, has been slammed as ‘inadequate’ by national watchdog – Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary .

Andy said, “I have not taken this decision lightly. It is clear that a thorough investigation is needed though. People need to have confidence in policing. In the fight against crime – every penny counts. The Police distribute funding and officers based on the crime rates. It’s clear that Labour’s police bosses have absolutely no idea what’s going on out there. It’s inconceivable that we won’t be losing out on officers. The blame lies squarely with Labour. It was only last year that they were claiming crime was going down. Now we find out that at best they have failed to do their job in recording crime. At worst, it is a deliberate manipulation of figures. We need answers.”

Lib Dem Mayoral candidate for Greater Manchester Jane Brophy said, “If the public are to have confidence in the Police, we need to know that all the calls are being logged. No-one calls the Police just to have their concerns ignored. Tackling rising crime is a priority for me.”

Councillor Andy Kelly continued, “My complaint against Greater Manchester Police relates to the failure to log 38,000 calls a year. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) have reported that GMP recorded around 85 per cent of crimes BUT the force was under-recording some serious offences. A quarter of violent crimes, equivalent to more than 16,800 offences, went unrecorded in a year according to the HMIC. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was graded “inadequate” at recording crime. HMIC also found officers were also wrongly cancelling recorded violence, robbery and sex offences.

“This is an extremely serious matter and could skew how resources to fight crime are distributed across Greater Manchester. It is my view that Greater Manchester Police are letting down victims of crime across Greater Manchester. I would like to see an investigation into the reasons why such a huge number of crimes have not been recorded. Statistics are crucial when allocating resources and it is clear that as a result of failing to record accurate crime figures, Greater Manchester Police have no idea about the true picture regarding crime across our area.

“It is crucial that the public have confidence that their complaints to the Police are taken seriously. I cannot, say hand on heart that this is currently the case. I would like to see an investigation into the training provided to staff. Further to this, I would like to see the rules with regards to the previous training of staff that has led to the under reporting of crime.”