Fixing Greater Manchester Police is like 'flying a jumbo jet and rebuilding it in the air', says top cop

Greater Manchester Police's deputy chief constable has likened fixing Greater Manchester's failing police force to 'flying a jumbo jet and rebuilding it while it's in the air'. Top cop Terry Woods told the police, fire and crime panel on Tuesday (March 16) of the progress GMP has made since inspectors last visited in September.

It follows another damning assessment by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) which found the force to be 'inadequate' in three areas and 'requiring improvement' in a further five. But senior leaders have spoken of 'significant' improvements in the number of arrests made, crimes recorded and incidents attended in the last six months. This includes 96.5 pc of rape and serious sexual offences now being recorded.

Angela Lawrence, an independent panel member who was awarded an MBE for her work on tackling gang violence, asked how the police will rebuild trust. She said: "GMP have had their ass whooped because you became complacent.

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"You're going back to basics now which is necessary. But you also need to deal with the culture within the police itself. Until you root out the evils within your establishment and are seen to be really holding people to account, trust is not going to be there."

DCC Woods, who is responsible for GMP's professional standards branch, acknowledged that culture issues must be sorted out by setting an example. He told the panel that the force is 'heavily invested in proactively seeking out issues', rather than simply reacting to disciplinary cases involving its officers.

The deputy chief also told the panel that