Greater Manchester Police reinforces its commitment to fighting neighbourhood crime and keeping victims safe

Improving the response to neighbourhood crimes across Greater Manchester remains a force priority, and one example of the ways that we have improved our investigative response to neighbourhood crime, is the ongoing focus on Operation Castle, after its launch in 2021.

The work of our officers and staff guided by the principles of the operation has shaped how we respond to this incredibly intrusive crime type, that can impact some of our most vulnerable people in their safe space.

Burglary incidents this year (2024) compared with last year (2023) show that there have been approximately 3,300 fewer reports, due to our preventative work, attendance at every burglary and exploration of all reasonable lines of enquiry.

After the success we demonstrated during the Operation Castle pilot scheme here, the Home Office announced that all police forces across the country would be following GMP’s lead and are now required to attend every report of domestic burglary.

In the nearly four years since its creation in Greater Manchester, Operation Castle continues to see successes. Positive results have come from an increased and sustained investment in additional training for officers and staff to improve their investigative and policing skills when it comes to solving burglaries.

Dedicated burglary teams were set up across local districts, and Operation Castle works by using resources across the force to promote crime prevention, improve detections, and also improve public confidence that an attendance at every burglary achieves.

Manchester North neighbourhood crime team with Chief Superintendent (formerly Superintendent) Chris Foster

Officers and staff working in neighbourhood crime teams across districts have arrested many offenders, removing those who commit repeat burglaries on our streets. They ensure that residents and business owners are given crime prevention advice when they visit, to reduce repeat incidents, often with dedicated burglary cars across districts supporting response colleagues in getting to victims quicker.

In the last two years, we have charged and remanded 754 individuals for residential and commercial burglary. Just today (15/8/24), a 14-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with 5 counts of residential burglary and 2 counts of attempted residential burglary.

We work closely alongside criminal justice systems and other forces to secure convictions of those who are blighting our communities. Kevin Sumner (26/05/1966), of Russel Street in Tameside was sentenced to 3 years in prison after a burglary in Ashton Under Lyne where a set of car keys and a car was stolen. 

Alongside improving the response, a greater emphasis has been placed on crime prevention. Our force’s crime prevention team were successful in securing £66,000 to fund the purchase of crime prevention products to distribute to victims and potential victims of burglary and vehicle crime in neighbourhoods across Greater Manchester. The materials that will be distributed include window alarms, door alarms, timer switches, fake TV strobe lights to make it look like someone is home to deter burglars, ultra violet marking pens, and property marking warning stickers. This is all in a bid to further reduce the number of burglaries in Greater Manchester.

Officers giving out crime prevention materials to members of the community

Operation Castle seminars have been held across the force, which brings together learning from officers across different districts and other forces, to improve the way as a force we can respond to burglaries.

Chief Superintendent Chris Foster, force lead for burglary, said: “The sustained success is not just ring fenced to burglary, improvements have been seen across a wide range of neighbourhood crimes by improving how we investigate and solve crime, resulting in better outcomes for victims.

“We are keen to continue the success of the operation to build on trust and confidence with victims of crime and we know we still have more to do. That is why we are continuing to work with our Force Contact Centre to improve our operational response model. This will ensure that we are dealing with burglaries as soon as they are reported to us, allowing officers to respond to reports of burglaries quicker and therefore providing a better service to victims of crime

“Burglary packs were introduced in 2021 and have been used ever since by response officers. The packs are used to ensure that the correct information is gathered when speaking with the victim for the first time, which ensures our investigative teams have the right information to progress the case and secure justice for victims of crime.

“I attended a burglary in Tameside, of an elderly lady who had her home burgled the night before, when she realised her home had been burgled the offender had fled. I wanted to see myself how the burglary packs were being used by our officers and what improvements we could implement to refine the way the packs work even further.

“Although we have officers and staff working hard to detect and deter burglars, we want to hear from you. If you have any information about recent burglaries in your area, please get in touch, no piece of information is too small. With your help we can reduce the number of burglaries happening in Greater Manchester even further.”

Information can be reported online via the GMP website, or by calling 101. Always dial 999 in an emergency.

Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.