Fight against crime results in significant drop in incidents and increase in arrests

Our fight against criminals is reaping rewards with a significant drop in crime over the past year.

In the 12 months to December 2024, recorded crime was down by 8% in Greater Manchester with almost 30,000 fewer incidents across the GMP force area.

We made 67,084 arrests, 3,545 more than the previous year and an increase of 5.6% on 2023.

These dramatic results have been achieved through targeted operations, community engagement and work with partners.

There have been particularly notable reductions in neighbourhood crime - theft from the person (down 28.2%), vehicle offences (down 18.5%) and residential burglary (down 11.3%).

In the same period, the number of crimes solved was up by 12.6% - a significant increase on May 2021 when Chief Constable Stephen Watson was appointed at GMP.

One of CC Watson’s first improvements was to increase the number of neighbourhood officers resulting in greater community engagement and increased visibility on our streets.

Among the initiatives we are using to fight and reduce neighbourhood crime was the dedicated Operation AVRO in November 2024.

Operation AVRO is a forcewide initiative that delivers extra resources and specialist officers to a different district within Greater Manchester each month with the aim of tackling issues of acute public concern in a highly visible manner.

In November, there were 52 arrests, more than 100 vehicle stops, 120 deployments including knife arches, school events and hotspot patrols, and seven warrants were executed.

Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle, GMP’s lead for Local Policing, said: “It is hugely satisfying to see significant reductions in neighbourhood crime in 2024 and that GMP is delivering results for our communities.

“At the same time as reducing crime volume, we have also seen increases in the rates of crime being solved. 

“We are under no illusion that there is still much more to do to keep driving these reductions.

“These statistics are evidence of GMP’s commitment to neighbourhood policing and are a credit to the work of our neighbourhood policing teams in identifying and solving problems as well as the dedicated neighbourhood crime team, who work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice. 

“However, none of this can be achieved alone. We work closely with our partners including local authorities, the CPS, the voluntary sector, and the Probation Service.

“Just as important, we have seen growing support from communities to provide intelligence and CCTV, give statements and report suspicious activity.

“Our witness care teams and victim services partners are there to support those who bravely come forward to report these crimes, taking a stand against those would inflict violence and misery.”

Latest GMP performance figures:

• Total crime – in the latest 12 months GMP recorded 325,164 crimes, 28,269 fewer than the previous year, a reduction of 8%
• Serious violence – 32,788 crimes, a reduction of 4.8%
• Residential burglary – 11,323 crimes, reduction of 11.3%
• Personal robbery – 3,990 crimes, a reduction of 7.1%
• Theft from person – 5,275 crimes, a reduction of 28.2 %
• Vehicle offences – 17,950 crimes, reduction of 18.5%
• Stalking and harassment – 44,252, a reduction of 15.4%
• Domestic abuse – 53,342 crimes, a reduction of 7.2%
• Child protection – 21,841 crimes, a reduction of 2.5%

The latest figures show that our call handlers now answer 999 calls in 4 seconds, well inside the national standard of 10 seconds.

December 2024 was a particularly good month with emergency 999 calls being answered within 2 seconds on average and 97% of emergency calls
answered within 10 seconds.

We attend Grade 1 incidents in an average of 8 minutes and 34 seconds, almost 90 seconds faster than 2023.

Again, December 2024 was particularly strong month with an average attendance time of 7 minutes 42 seconds - the fastest time that
GMP has achieved in a single month.

• Anybody who has any information or concerns regarding ongoing crime within their community should contact GMP on 101 or via the reporting tools on our website, or by calling Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.
• To receive free direct alerts to your email inbox on how your Neighbourhood Policing Team is keeping your area safe, sign up to Bee in the Loop - www.beeintheloop.co.uk.