Welcome to the latest edition of the Engagement newsletter. It’s been another busy few months for GMPA’s Engagement Team. The Get My Point Across roadshow is in full swing and we’d like to thank everyone for coming along and sharing their views on policing in Greater Manchester. If you haven’t been able to come and speak to us when we’ve been out and about, you can also visit our website and fill out one of our questionnaires. Here you’ll also find details of future events, so there’s nothing stopping you having your say. The team has also been developing the way GMPA engages with young people, which includes the launch of a school-based longitudinal study to see how young people’s perceptions of the police change over time. It will be interesting to see the results of this initiative and we’ll keep you updated. I hope you’ve had a chance to look around our new-look website to find out more about what we do and the opportunities to get involved. There are also plenty of ways to get in touch with us and find out what we’re doing, either by submitting a question for the Chair, following us on Twitter or ‘liking’ us on Facebook. Thank you for reading Christine McGawley JP GMPA Vice Chair INTRODUCTION Engagement SALFORD CIVIC CENTRE • CHORLEY ROAD • SWINTON M27 5DA T: 0161 793 3127 • www.gmpa.gov.uk • [email protected]Summer 2011 The public have been flocking to town halls across Greater Manchester to question those in charge of policing Greater Manchester. Stockport Town Hall hosted the first Policing Today, Policing Tomorrow event on Wednesday 15 June, before moving on to Salford and Bury the following week. Further events have been taking place across the remaining boroughs of Greater Manchester. Chair of the GMPA, Cllr Paul Murphy and Chief Constable Peter Fahy have been explaining to the public, made up of local councillors, representatives from youth clubs, Homewatch schemes and local residents, the challenges facing GMPA and GMP in the future. GREATER MANCHESTER RESIDENTS QUIZ POLICE BOSSES Turn over to find out more! Chief Constable Peter Fahy addresses residents in Stockport Christine McGawley JP (GMPA Vice Chair)
Transcript
Welcome to the latest edition of the Engagement newsletter.
It’s been another busy few months for GMPA’s Engagement Team. The Get My Point Across roadshow is in full swing and we’d like to thank everyone for coming along and sharing their views on policing in Greater Manchester. If you haven’t been able to come and speak to us when we’ve been out and about, you can also visit our website and fill out one of our questionnaires. Here you’ll also find details of future events, so there’s nothing stopping you having your say.
The team has also been developing the way GMPA engages with young people, which includes the launch of a school-based longitudinal study to see how young people’s perceptions of the police change over time. It will be interesting to see the results of this initiative and we’ll keep you updated.
I hope you’ve had a chance to look around our new-look website to find out more about what we do and the opportunities to get involved. There are also plenty of ways to get in touch with us and find out what we’re doing, either by submitting a question for the Chair, following us on Twitter or ‘liking’ us on Facebook.
Thank you for reading
Christine McGawley JPGMPA Vice Chair
INTRODUCTION
EngagementSALFORD CIVIC CENTRE • CHORLEY ROAD • SWINTON M27 5DA
T: 0 1 6 1 7 9 3 3 1 2 7 • w w w. g m p a . g o v. u k • i n f o @ g m p a . g o v. u k
Summer 2011
The public have been flocking to town halls across Greater Manchester to question those in charge of policing Greater Manchester.
Stockport Town Hall hosted the first Policing Today, Policing Tomorrow event on Wednesday 15 June, before moving on to Salford and Bury the following week. Further events have been taking place across the remaining boroughs of Greater Manchester.
Chair of the GMPA, Cllr Paul Murphy and Chief Constable Peter Fahy have been explaining to the public, made up of local councillors, representatives from youth clubs, Homewatch schemes and local residents, the challenges facing GMPA and GMP in the future.
GREATER MANCHESTER RESIDENTS QUIZ POLICE BOSSES
Turn over to find out more!
Chief Constable Peter Fahy addresses residents in Stockport
Christine McGawley JP (GMPA Vice Chair)
They also answered questions on how the police is performing against the targets set by GMPA and how the cuts in public services are affecting law and order.
Cllr Paul Murphy said: “We recognise that the public are rightly concerned about how budget cuts will affect their police service. These events are an opportunity for us to have a conversation with our residents about this issue and answer their questions as best we can.
“Tough decisions have and will be made but we need to make sure we continue to listen to the public of Greater Manchester and involve them in the challenges we face – this is what these events are about.”
We will be publishing some of the questions and answers on our website – www.gmpa.gov.uk – where you can also find details of an event near you.
This year, GMPA is again getting out and about to find out what the public thinks about policing.
The Get My Point Across tour has been in full swing since January, with the team asking local people for their views about important policing issues, from Force finances to policing priorities.
Chairman of GMPA, Councillor Paul Murphy said, “The consultation we’re undertaking is all about capturing public views on policing issues and using them to inform decisions made. This helps the Police Authority to ensure the police service delivered by the Force reflects the needs of our communities.”
The team has visited chambers of commerce, jobs fairs, supermarkets and community events, chatting to the public about policing issues asking them to spare a few minutes to complete surveys and chat about policing issues.
Consultation sessions are also taking place with targeted groups to make sure a good cross-section of each community has the chance to get involved.
GreaterManchester residents quizpolice bosses
Continued from page 1
Cllr Paul Murphy, GMPA Chair talks about the challenges ahead
GMPA ROADSHOW
The Engagement Team get ready to talk to the public
We want to know what you think the police should be focussing on in your community. Take a couple of minutes to fill out our survey and you’ll be entered into our prize draw for two tickets to Manchester Pride Big Weekend 2011.
Go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/J8ZSPSF to have your say.
Terms and conditions: Only 1 entry per person. Contact details will not be used for any purpose other than agreed on the survey. The winner will be notified after the draw has
taken place on Friday 12th August 2011.
Win 2 FREE TICKETS for Manchester Pride Big Weekend 2011
To find out when we’re coming to your area go to www.gmpa.gov.uk/events, where you can also fill out one of our online questionnaires.
More than 200 youngsters have taken part in adrenalin-fuelled activities to help boost their self-esteem and build relations with their local police officers.
A series of 12 two-day events were organised by GMPA, which involved a visit to specialist units at GMP, including the dog and mounted sections, forensic services, firearms unit, the police museum and the Investigative Training Unit, so they could learn about diverse role of the police.
Participants also joined forces with police officers in a number of team-building exercises including indoor climbing, aerial assault courses, canoeing and raft building.
Lisa Korczynski, Engagement Officer, said: “The Building Confidence project was designed to build positive relationships between the young people and police officers, encouraging trust, communication and co-operation. We measured the young people’s confidence in their police service at the start of the project and by the end of the two-day event we found that this had improved. We have had positive feedback from the young people involved, who have all said that they now have a greater understanding of the varied role of police officers and how difficult their job can sometimes be.”
The officers involved also benefited from the project, giving them an insight into how young people feel about the police.
You said We did
Ongoing partnership work between GMPA, GMP and young people to ensure the continued reinforcement of positive relationships.
Raise awareness amongst young people of their right to make a complaint against a police officer and provide information about how to do so.
More opportunities need to be made available for young people and officers to work alongside each other to encourage a shared understanding of their different issues and concerns and to identify some common ground.
More work to be done with partner agencies, including schools, probation, youth service, and YOTs, to enable young people to visit sections of the force and gain an understanding of the wide role and varied challenges facing officers on a daily basis.
Regular opportunities to be created for young people and officers to have open and honest dialogue about their different perspectives so as to promote mutual understanding.
More Confidence Project events were organised with more than 100 young people.
Complaints cards aimed specifically at young people were produced are currently being distributed to every secondary school, YOT and probation service across Greater Manchester.
Longitudinal studies are being carried out in schools with young people in Year 7. These will be repeated every year with the same groups until their final school year to see how their views about the police may have changed.
Question and answer sessions have been incorporated into the sessions with police officers in schools to enable continued dialogue with young people.
Sections of the Force will continue to be invited into the school sessions to continue raising awareness of the diverse roles that police officers carry out.
POLICE AND YOUNGSTERSTEAM UP TO BUILD CONFIDENCE
A number of recommendations came out of the project. Here’s what we’re doing in response:
POLICE AND YOUNGSTERSTEAM UP TO BUILD CONFIDENCE A project to tackle knife crime
across Greater Manchester has been hailed a success.
Since 2009, GMPA has been working with communities in Bolton, Oldham, Tameside and Manchester to raise awareness of knife crime and its consequences and to speak to young people about the issue and find out what they think.
Surveys, seminars and local events were held to discuss the issue and involve the community in developing ways to tackle knife crime. A strategic Youth Independent Advisory Group was formed to look at issues regarding policing issues in relation to knife crime and police officers were brought together to share good practice.
A highlight of the project, the ‘You Choose’ event brought together more than 400 young people from across Greater Manchester. The workshop-based event tackled the issues of weapons and gangs and attracted positive feedback from the young people who came along.
The GMPA engagement team also interviewed local people to identify perceptions, causes and the impact of knife crime. These
feature in the Preventing Knife Crime teaching pack, which can now be downloaded from www.gmpa.gov.uk/breadandbutter.
In response, GMPA’s Engagement Team has delivered additional knife crime seminars in schools, youth settings and prisons across Greater Manchester. This has also included consultation and raising awareness about the changes to stop and account and stop and searches.
Police officers from neighbourhood policing teams, forensics and the dog and mounted units have visited schools, providing an opportunity for pupils to find out more about the role of the police.
In addition, GMPA developed the Confidence Project, to get young people and police officers working together in a number of activities such as climbing, canoeing and rafting and teambuilding exercises.
Uzma Alam, GMPA’s Engagement Manager said: “Throughout this project we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the young people we’ve been working with. Hopefully, by speaking to them and the wider community about the issue we have raised awareness about the consequences and impact of carrying weapons and hopefully prevented someone from carrying a knife in the future.”
Tackling knife crime across the Borough
Greater Manchester Police was one of ten Forces to receive Home Office funding to tackle knife-enabled crime. This funding has been used to target individuals using or carrying knives, reassure communities, deliver anti-knife crime education programmes and develop intelligence-led policing.
A Knife Enabled Crime Programme Board was created to provide a multi-agency approach to combating the issues of knife crime in our communities and to oversee GMP’s strategy which incorporates 4 strands:
To support the delivery of the 4 strands, Greater Manchester Police Authority carried out a Knife Enabled Crime engagement programme of projects during 2009 - 2010 across Greater Manchester to the 6 target Divisions highlighted by the Force: Bolton, Oldham, Tameside and the 3 Manchester Divisons.
WHY KNIFE CRIME?
A number of recommendations were made by people involved in the project including:
• Continuedeliveringeducational events in schools to ensure that awareness of the consequences of carrying a knife is sustained
• Educationalandawarenesspackages that parents can access
• Anincreaseinpositivepressaround young people’s achievements
• Agreaterpolicepresenceinschools
• Increasedawarenessandunderstanding of stop and search
• Deliverarangeofactivitieswhere young people can positively interact with local police officers and develop relationships
1. Develop knife crime intelligence about victims, offenders and locations
2. Deliver anti-knife crime programmes of education and prevention
3. Target those individuals who use or carry knives unlawfully
4. Reassure our communities through high visibility policing and effective use of the media
Pupils at Salford Oasis Academy have helped launch a new way to consult with young people.
Ten secondary schools, one from each borough, are taking part in a three-year longitudinal study that will find out how young people’s views on policing are shaped and influenced over time.
The first event took place at Salford Oasis Academy on 3 February 2011, where 170 Year 7 and Year 8 pupils took part in three interactive workshops.
These include a consultation workshop to find out young people’s views about antisocial behaviour, stop and search and policing priorites and to gauge their trust and confidence in the police.
Then it was over to the pupils to ask the questions and put their neighbourhood policing officer under the spotlight.
Rick Whitehead, Engagement Officer, said: “We want to encourage young people to get involved in an honest debate about policing and allow their voices to be heard, which is what the Question Time part of the project is all about. This will often be the first time pupils have spoken to a police officer so it’s important that it’s a positive experience and allows them to learn about the role of the police.”
The final workshop gives pupils an insight into GMP’s specialist units with a visit from officers from the dog unit, accompanied by their four-legged friends.
John Bartlett from Oasis Academy said: “The police dog sessions went down very well, in fact they’re still talking about it weeks after.”
Rick Whitehead, Engagement Officer, said added: “This is an innovative approach to consulting with young people and by the end of the year we will have consulted with over 2,000 11-13 year olds across Greater Manchester. Once we have some results we will work with neighbourhood policing teams and young people to develop specific engagement tools to tackle the issues identified at these events.”
Pupils get a chance to quiz a local police officer
EVENTS CALENDARJust a handful of dates when we’ll be out and about across Greater Manchester. Come and say hello and tell us your views on policing…
Play Day EventWednesday 3 August 11am-4pm, Town Hall Front Victoria Square. Bolton. BL1 1RU
Policing Today, Policing Tomorrow – South ManchesterThursday 25 August, 5pm-7pm Chorlton Irish Club 17 High Lane, Chorlton Manchester, M21 9DJ (see our website for more dates)
Salford Garden Party Saturday 3 September
Heywood Charities Fete Sunday 4 September
If you aren’t able to come along to an event but still want to have your say then log on to our new-look website.
The site is now more accessible and is packed with information about what we do, how you can get involved and upcoming events. You can also find details of GMPA’s Committee Meetings, which are open to the public.
There’s also an opportunity to quiz the Chairman, through our Ask the Chair facility. So if you have
a burning question for Cllr Paul Murphy make sure you get online. Sending a question couldn’t be easier – simply visit the website and submit a question via the online form. Questions and answers will be published online.
You can also follow us on Twitter (@gmpa1) or like us on Facebook (facebook.com/gmpa1). We’ll be updating our followers on the latest news, upcoming events and public meetings and giving an insight into the work of the Police Authority.
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Interested in Volunteering?Date: Wednesday September 1stTime: 10am startVenue: Meeting Room Five, Stockport Town Hall, Edward Street, Stockport, SK1 3XE
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