Operation Castle

Operation Castle

On 27 July 2021, the government unveiled their Beating Crime Plan - their commitment to fewer victims, peaceful neighbourhoods and a safe country. One of the key priorities within this plan was to cut neighbourhood crime including vehicle related theft, robbery of personal property, theft from person and domestic burglary.

Burglary makes up 30% of all neighbourhood crime offences across the UK and the government are determined to drive this particularly devastating crime down and in turn ensure that communities feel safe in their homes.

GMP volunteered to work with the government to evaluate the benefits of sending a police officer to every domestic burglary across Greater Manchester. This initiative assesses the impact on crime prevention, detection, and public confidence that 100% attendance at burglaries has.

Following on from this, the force developed Operation Castle - our forcewide response to tackling burglaries from both a residential and commercial perspective.

Results

Operation Castle, which has been in place for almost two years, has already seen results across districts with a number of offenders arrested and residents/ business owners given crime prevention advice to prevent repeat incidents together with dedicated burglary cars across districts to support communities.

In the 12 months to February 2023, GMP solved 68.7% more residential burglaries than in the previous year. Whilst the number of people arrested on suspicion of burglary in Greater Manchester rose by 42.1%.

In the same period, the force recorded 688 fewer residential burglaries. This is despite improved compliance with national standards, which has resulted in increased recording across many crime types.

Superintendent Chris Foster, force lead for burglary, said: “Fighting burglary is a priority for GMP and, under Operation Castle, the force is evidently improving the service provided to communities across Greater Manchester and victims of crime - arresting more suspects and progressing more cases to courts. 

“It goes without saying, however, that there is more hard work to be done.The good news is that we have a plan in place and, under the new model launched earlier this month, an extra 264 police officers have been posted to neighbourhood policing teams to provide increased visibility and improved accessibility – deterring criminals, whilst working with communities to problem solve.

Reporting

Anyone with information that will help us to bring burglars and handlers of stolen goods to justice is encouraged to contact ourselves either via the LiveChat or reporting function on our website or by calling 101. You can also pass on information anonymously through CrimeStoppers by calling 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency.

Crime Prevention Guidance

Further crime prevention advice can be found below:

https://www.gmp.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/protect-home-crime/