GMP supports launch of Independent Scrutiny Panel
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has welcomed the launch of an Independent Scrutiny Panel by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to oversee custody performance and arrest practices. The panel is part of efforts to implement recommendations from Dame Vera Baird’s report and HMICFRS inspections. GMP has already addressed 24 of 26 recommendations, including ending strip searches for welfare, improving officer training, and ensuring dignity for female suspects. The final HMICFRS recommendation is nearing closure.
Independent Panel Launches to Scrutinize Greater Manchester Police Custody Practices
Greater Manchester Police welcomed a new Independent Scrutiny Panel launched Thursday by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to monitor arrest procedures and custody performance across the region through random inspections and “dip sampling” techniques.
The panel’s establishment marks the latest development in implementing Dame Vera Baird’s inquiry recommendations regarding treatment of people in police custody. This initiative coincides with His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services closing their final recommendation from the 2022 custody inspection, completing all 25 identified areas for improvement.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority created the panel as part of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s commitment to holding police accountable for arrest practices and custody services. Police have already implemented 24 of 26 Baird inquiry recommendations specific to Greater Manchester Police, including ending strip searches for welfare purposes, refreshing officer training on voluntary attendance interviews, ensuring female welfare officers attend female suspects, and providing dignity packs with sanitary products.
“Today’s launch is another significant step in helping to improve the service that we provide to people in custody across Greater Manchester, as we continue to strive to be a national exemplar in this space,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Ryan Davies, Greater Manchester Police’s head of Custody and Criminal Justice. “It reinforces our commitment to being held to account for our use of arrests and our performance in custody, which is important in making sure people - particularly women and girls - can have confidence as to how their police force treats people in custody.”
Davies noted that custody officers handle approximately 60,000 suspects annually in challenging conditions, while emphasizing that “basic provisions and processes must always be met.”
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