BREAKING: Key part of GMP's troubled iOPS computer system FINALLY set to be scrapped

A key part of GMP's troubled computer system is to be scrapped, the M.E.N. can reveal. The force invested £27m in a new computer system called iOPS (Integrated Operational Policing System) which went live in July 2019, some 19 months behind schedule.

It was hated by staff and was plagued with problems.

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Today Chief Constable Stephen Watson emailed staff to confirm GMP will be scrapping the important PoliceWorks part of the system, which is key in the day-to-day running of the force. The system went live under the watch of former chief constable Ian Hopkins, who wrote to MPs to tell them it was 'not a disaster'. He was later forced out of his job following a damning watchdog report which revealed an estimated 80,000 crimes had not been properly recorded.

His successor Stephen Watson, a year ago, almost immediately vowed to fix or replace it. It was only this morning that his decision to replace it was made public, in an email to staff.

iOPS has been causing officers intense frustration since it was introduced in the summer of 2019. The part used by senior command and call handlers - known as ControlWorks - has largely been rolled out without too much issue, but PoliceWorks, which rank-and-file cops are meant to use day-to-day for investigations, intelligence and records, has been a major problem from the start.

A string of police whistleblowers came to the M.E.N. to report their concerns but these were dismissed by force top brass at the time. Within days of its introduction they came forward in their droves to warn of its failures, while the policing watchdog would go on to hold it responsible for huge safeguarding backlogs and for