The CoM Brief - September 2024

THE VOICE OF GREATER MANCHESTER POLICE

CITY OF MANCHESTER · SEPTEMBER 2024

PRIDE IN THE CITY OF MANCHESTER

2 THE BRIEF

SEPTEMBER 2024

Manchester celebrates Pride

Colleagues, firstly, I would like to thank everyone across the district for the long hours and hard work over the summer.

From managing the busy day-to-day demand across the City of Manchester, to the protest activity and civil unrest, we were presented significant challenges and we worked well together in response to it. From the police officers responding, to the investigators making arrests, to the neighbourhood officers reassuring community and the support staff that keep our buildings clean and safe and district operating – a big thank you!

This month the focus of Brief is on our Force Intelligence Branch (FIB) and District Intelligence Unit (DIU).

Intelligence is key to us being able to deploy our resources where the harm is greatest and protect those that need protecting. The FIB and DIU work together to review and analyse intelligence and inform our policing response. It is incumbent on all of us to play our part and one small piece of information could be the jigsaw piece that completes the picture which enables an effective policing response.

In previous roles, there are numerous times when a small piece of intelligence, for example; a person’s phone number, is what has brought an investigation together to bring offenders to justice.

For those that haven’t visited one of our District Investigation Units, I would encourage you to do so and speak with the staff in there to understand the work they do and how we all can play a part in keeping the communities of Manchester safe.

David Meeney.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend Friday 23 – Monday 26 August, Neighbourhood officers across the city facilitated Manchester’s annual Pride event to ensure visitors could have fun and keep safe while they celebrated.

Manchester Pride brings our communities together to celebrate diversity and the LGBT+ community.

It is also a fantastic opportunity for our officers to engage with the people of Greater Manchester and demonstrate our commitment to supporting those in the LGBT+ community.

Police officers, staff and volunteers attended this year’s parade with thousands of people lining the streets to enjoy the spectacle.

Chair of GMP Pride Network Chief Inspector Lee Broadstock said: “We have

received a lot of positive feedback about the police presence in Pride this year.

Our community members and partners are very pleased with the police support, communication, and engagement throughout the weekend.

“It is crucial that Greater Manchester Police are represented to show that we are proud to be LGBT+ within policing and proud to be a part of the community.

“Having a presence at events like this shows the LGBT+ community that the police are inclusive, representative, and keen to have a diverse workforce by actively seeking to encourage people to apply to join us.

“Our involvement in Pride helps us to demonstrate how proud we are to serve and how proud we are of our own LGBT+ identities.”

SEPTEMBER 2024

Two stolen motorcycles recovered and arrest made following morning warrant Officers across the force continue to tackle robberies, burglaries and thefts across Greater Manchester.

Burnage neighbourhood team have put a plan into action, with the recovery of two stolen motorbikes following a warrant earlier this month, and a male arrested on suspicion of robbery.

The early morning visit occurred on Burnage Lane, with local neighbourhood officers entering the property at around

8am, where they subsequently recovered the motorcycles. It is believed that both had been stolen in recent weeks and they will now be re-united with their rightful owners.

A further search also found a small amount of cannabis and other drug paraphernalia.

One male, aged 16, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of robbery and possession of cannabis. He remains in

custody for questioning.

Sergeant Stuart Farrell, from the Burnage neighbourhood team, said: “This is a great result for our team, and means the two victims of crime can be reunited with their stolen property.

“Crimes such as burglaries, thefts, and robberies can feel very personal and we will always take action to reunite people with items taken from them and take action against those responsible.”

Are you ready for Right Care, Right Person?

Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) is set to go live at GMP on Monday 30 September.

RCRP is a nationwide initiative aimed at identifying the most appropriate agency to provide support to our communities.

The police are not always the right agency to respond to calls from the public, and RCRP will provide a framework for those calls to be directed to providers who are better placed to help.

In Greater Manchester, RCRP will apply to G15 jobs

which cover concern for welfare, patients walking out or going AWOL from healthcare establishments, and medical support.

Missing persons are no longer part of RCRP and now fall under Operation Addition.

Please be aware that no changes should be made to the way we work before Right Care, Right Person is live.

Whom does this affect?

Decisions around RCRP will be made predominantly within FCCO and by call handlers using a rigorous assessment tool. District officers and staff are not required or responsible for making RCRPrelated decisions; and district teams will not need to refer to RCRP at any point during their shift. If you have a query about a job which you believe should fall under RCRP, please speak to your line manager.

RCRP and the law Under common law the police do not generally owe a duty of care to protect individuals from harm – whether this is caused by themselves or others.

The Human Rights Act 1998 does include provisions under which the police are responsible for taking reasonable measures to protect individuals from harm caused by others or by themselves: • when there is a real and immediate risk to the life of a specific and identifiable person or group of persons (Article 2); or • when there is a real and immediate risk of that person being subject to serious harm or other inhumane treatment (Article 3).

Under GMP’s RCRP processes, we will no longer respond to category 1 medical matters; these will be passed to the North West Ambulance Service as a matter of course.

Training Before RCRP goes live on 30 September, all officers and staff in training and public-facing roles must complete a 15-minute training package via College Learn, which can be found at https://www.learn. college.pnn.police.uk/CL/Content/ Summary/47978.

If there are any issues or queries you would like to raise, please email RCRP_Training@gmp.police.uk.

Resources and support If you have a question about Right Care, Right Person, you can email the project team at RCRP@ gmp.police.uk.

SEPTEMBER 2024

GMP remembers PC Raj Ahmed A memorial service to honour a brave police officer who lost his life 25 years ago was held on Saturday 31 August 2024.

PC Raja Basharat Ahmed, known to his colleagues and friends as Raj, was tragically killed after trying to stop a suspected stolen car on Alan Turing Way on 31 August 1999.

Sadly, he suffered fatal injuries after his motorbike was shunted by the car into the path of an oncoming lorry. He was 35 years old.

At the time of his death, PC Ahmed, a spec ops officer for City of Manchester district, had served in the force for over 14 years and had received four commendations for excellent police work. He was also

studying towards a law degree at Manchester Metropolitan University in his own time.

Since then, a street at a development in Miles Platting has been renamed Raja Ahmed Street in tribute to the service PC Ahmed gave to the people of Manchester and the courage he demonstrated in the line of duty.

Losing a member of our police family is always hard and 25 years on, that day will continue to be a stark reminder of the dangers our officers face every day in their efforts to ensure the safety of the wider community.

PC Ahmed made the ultimate sacrifice to uphold the law, which resulted in his unexpected and untimely death. He will always be remembered by his GMP colleagues.

Detective Superintendant Dave Meeney said: “The memorial service gave PC Ahmed’s family, colleagues and friends the opportunity to pay tribute and recognise the sacrifice he made while in the line of duty. It is an important reminder of the risks we see every day in policing. We will always remember PC Ahmed and be forever grateful for his service.”

Meet the media office: your communications team The Corporate Communications branch is the bridge between the force, it’s employees and the public.

The branch deals with all internal and external communication with employees and the media. Our main goal is to support operational policing and to enhance public confidence. The branch is located on the ground floor at Greater Manchester Police Force Headquarters (GMPFHQ). Its mission is to keep the public informed, safe, and engaged while also supporting our officers and staff.

In today’s fast-paced world, effective communication is essential for public safety. The media office provides proactive and reactive communications and media support to officers and staff of all ranks.

The team is made up of a media manager, two team leaders, a number of media officers, two social media

support officers and a public relations and communications apprentice.

The media office takes on a variety of initiatives to increase public safety and enhance communication. For example, we warn and inform the public in response to incidents and emergencies.

The team also produce multi-media content to help with reduction and prevention of crime, harm and antisocial behaviour, while also publicising delivery of good work to build public trust and confidence.

In addition, they provide training and support to officers of all ranks, helping them navigate media interactions.

Finally, they facilitate media opportunities proactively and reactively across incidents and portfolio areas, as well as requests for filming and documentaries, ensuring that all enquires are managed through the media office.

Following the tensions throughout the UK, they focused on ensuring that communities within Greater Manchester felt safe and supported by: • Providing messaging to build community reassurance and confidence in policing.

• Showing a visible police presence in media for public reassurance.

• Promoting the sentencing and charges people involved in the riots.

The media office office hours are Monday to Friday from 6:30am to 7pm and on weekends from 8am to 4pm. For any enquiries, please contact the team at ext 62230 during weekday office hours or via email at press.office@gmp.police.uk.

Out of hours contact can be made with the on-call press officer via the force duty officer.