on a new computer system developed by Capita, said HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICFRS).
Its report found the launch of GMP’s new Integrated Operational Policing System (iOPS) caused the time
taken to answer 999 calls to rocket from 12 seconds to 48 seconds, and forced officers to revert to paper
records amid an IT shutdown.
GMP declared a “critical incident” after the system went live in July, as it affected the PoliceWorks database
used by frontline officers. The glitch caused delays to crime recording, record searches, investigations,
victim referrals and the transfer of prosecution files.
HMICFRS said the backlogs left “vulnerable people exposed to the risk of harm”, causing referrals to child
protection and a domestic abuse risk assessment scheme to drop dramatically.
When the inspection was conducted, almost 700 domestic abuse incidents had not been risk-assessed,
including some more than three months old, and overall referrals to victims’ services fell by 87 per cent.
“The force is prioritising action on most of the areas of high risk, but it doesn’t yet have a full understanding
of the nature of the threat and risk that all the backlogs contain,” HMICFRS said. “As the force developed
its understanding of the backlogs, it began to identify and prioritise those containing the most threat and
risk, such as incidents involving vulnerable people. However, this took time to achieve.”
As well as the backlogs, HMICFRS highlighted problems with the system itself, saying information on iOPS
was “hard to retrieve, inconsistent, or inaccurate”.
Inspectors warned that officers could “potentially miss important risk information” if they did not know the
exact spelling of a name, because there was no capability to search for different ones.
The watchdog said police officers and staff lost confidence in the system, which was already more than a
year overdue, and raised fears that “public and officer safety were being put at risk”.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Phil Gormley said: “It is clear some of the difficulties encountered were
unavoidable. However, it is similarly clear there are significant lessons for the future. I have made a number
of recommendations, which if adopted, will enable the force to address the underlying issues of system
capability, working practices and staff training. I continue to monitor the situation.”
Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian
Hopkins said the force’s old systems were
‘creating significant risks’ (PA)GMP said the problems highlighted in the report were already known and that it was implementing all nine
recommendations, claiming it was “now beginning to see the benefits of the new system”.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said its previous information system was decades old and had also been
criticised by HMICFRS and staff.