More Neighbourhood Policing on the way

The creation of 104 Police Officer posts ring fenced to neighbourhood policing in priority neighbourhoods is the big headline out of the budget for Greater Manchester Police I proposed at last Friday's meeting of AGMA [the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities ]. For the last few years I've had the job, with a couple of colleagues from other local authorities, of scrutinising GMP's budget proposals and making recommendations to AGMA.This year I was delighted to get support for a proposal that will not only get more police officers on the streets of Greater Manchester but will also see additional investment in tackling drug dealing, in witness protection, in tackling sales of alcohol to juveniles, and in gathering the forensic evidence to bring more cases successfully to court. Every year our citizens' survey identifies crime and anti-social behaviour as the biggest issue in the city though in most categories of crimes the numbers have been going down over the last few years. Even so, I'm sure that everyone will welcome this extra investment in making our communities safer .