Serving Greater Manchester Police officers have claimed soaring arrest rates are leading to 'intolerable' conditions for those in custody.
The allegations were aired tonight by Channel 4 News, with one woman who was arrested claiming she was only given a blanket an hour and a half after she was strip-searched.
And the force also faced allegations from the programme's investigation that a 'disproportionate numbers of arrests, some on spurious grounds' have been made as figures rise sharply.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
The programme's investigation came as the Chief Constable of GMP, Stephen Watson, said during an LBC talk radio phone-in that arrests are now at their highest level for two years - up 60 per cent. The number of people charged with a crime is also said to have risen by some 42 per cent.
The force was placed in special measures in December 2020 after a report revealed an estimated 80,000 crimes had not been properly recorded but in October last year, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary lifted the sanction and praised the force for improvements made.
Chief Constable Watson said the force, which is expected to benefit soon from an extra 264 warranted officers across all of its divisions, was 'punching its weight again' in terms of increased arrests and charges being brought was putting 'beneficial' pressure on the criminal justice system in Greater Manchester.
He said: "We have opened some dormant cells that had been mothballed. It was absolutely my intention right from the outset to use every cell space that we have got - and we are. We are doing that very well. The important thing is that the increase in arrests is translating into increased outcomes. There is no point just locking people up.
"We need them to end up gripping the rail and being accountable before our courts and that's why that 42 per cent increase in charges and summons is really important as well."
But Channel 4 News claimed on Wednesday night it had spoken with a serving officer who claimed there have been 'dozens of inappropriate and disproportionate arrests every week'. They added on the programme: "We go home everyday knowing [...] we have taken unacceptable risks in the workplace which will at some point lead to a person dying in custody."
The programme claimed figures given to it by GMP showed arrests are up by almost 20,000 in a year - a more than 50 per cent increase.
The investigation comes just months after a critical HMICFRS report on GMP custody - concluded in October 2022 and published in February 2023 - identified concerns about safety, standards and staffing levels in its custody suites.
Speaking anonymously, one woman said she was strip searched, left semi-naked and denied access to her medication after she was arrested. "It was traumatising and stressful," she told the programme. "And you don't get treated like a human being."
A second detainee said she spent 40 hours in police custody during lockdown and was strip-searched and undressed while handcuffed. The programme aired footage of her in her cell, but also of her arrest after she knocked a female officer's glasses off.
GMP told the programme the women's clothes were removed for welfare reasons and didn't constitute a strip-search in either case.
Responding to the officers' allegations of pressure, Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said: "I thank the staff. The figures I've quoted, of course is placing a positive pressure on that custody facility. We are increasing the arrest rate; we are locking up people who we suspect of offences; our outcome rate - i.e. the crimes we solve is increasing; and the amount of crimes we’re detecting is on the rise as well.
"I do understand pressure is placed on staff and I thank them for their hard work. It’s right to say that there has been an increase and that is putting pressure on the system, and pressure outside in terms of partners, but we’ve got a plan for how we’re going to deal with that.”
He said on the accounts from the two women: "These are ongoing investigations and complaints so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to go into the specific detail of those two cases but if the general tenet is around people coming into custody being strip searched, then that does happen occasionally, not on every occasion. Strip searches tend to happen when we believe somebody has concealed a weapon which they could use to harm themselves or be evidence of an offence. When it does happen, there is clear guidance of how it should take place.”
He said custody staff receive training every couple of months as part of 'continuous professional development'.
READ NEXT:
The full list of King Charles III Coronation street parties taking place across Greater Manchester
Huge emergency response near beauty spot after police called to concern for welfare of man
Police release CCTV in hunt for men accused of swiping more than £2k of booze from Tesco
"I bought an abandoned 'one euro' house in Italy and transformed it into a dream home"
