Bolton officer represents Greater Manchester Police at Downing Street event

A Bolton officer represented Greater Manchester Police at an event to celebrate the recruitment of more than 20,000 new officers in England and Wales. 

PC Craig McMorrow travelled to London on Wednesday 30 August 2023 with Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods after being nominated by his district.

Each force was asked to send a representative to the Downing Street event.

PC McMorrow said: "It's a huge honour to be asked to represent GMP at such a prestigious event and I am grateful to my district for nominating me.

"I started on response and have now joined the Tutor Unit - working at GMP is the most rewarding job I have done.

"I think they wanted to send someone with a good work ethic, which I think I have after my time in the forces.

"The work ethic is shared by many at Bolton. Everyone I have been lucky enough to work with so far is so passionate and dedicated to what they do, which results in lots of positive outcomes within our communities." 

PC McMorrow, 31, joined GMP after eight years in the Army and was nominated for GMP's Student Officer of the Year in 2022.

PC Craig McMorrow (left) with DCC Terry Woods at Downing Street

Superintendent Danny O’Neil, of GMP's Bolton district, said: "Craig goes above and beyond with victims of crime, often going the extra mile to deliver an excellent service, with recent example being where he reunited a victim with her stolen property.

"He is a credit to GMP, and he is a credit to the Bolton District and is fully deserving of this recognition."

GMP exceeds its Uplift target

GMP exceeded its target by recruiting an additional 125 police officers beyond the 1,155 officers set by the government as part of the Police Uplift Programme. 

Chief Superintendent Niall Hayden-Pawson said: “Earlier this year we celebrated exceeding 8,000 officers for the first time in a decade as we exceeded our Uplift target - since that announcement we have maintained numbers above 8,000. 

“A lot of hard work went into the recruitment drive to enable GMP to better serve its communities. 

“This recruitment also means GMP has its highest number of female officers and officers from ethnic minority backgrounds in its history, although there is still work to be done around these areas to ensure we are truly reflective of the communities we serve. 

“The public can expect to see more police officers on the streets of Greater Manchester, and they will be more visible and accessible to you than ever before, which was a pledge made by the Chief Constable when he launched a new neighbourhood policing model. 

“As part of that restructure, there will be an additional 264 warranted police officers posted to neighbourhood teams across Greater Manchester.

"This is an exciting time to join GMP - there are plenty of opportunities for police staff and for police officers who can join us as a student officer or as a transferee."