Team Wigan & Leigh, firstly, I want to thank each and every one of you for the tremendous teamwork and the resilience you all showed throughout August.
Ahead of national issues, Wigan witnessed increasing tensions and anti-immigration rhetoric, particularly in Ince, which resulted in acts of arson at St. Marys Church. Thank you for the effective partnership working and subsequent investigation of these offences combined with robust action relating to associated online activity, which resulted in numerous arrests. This approach has no doubt been a contributing factor in the prevention of disorder in Wigan. It was a very challenging time; long hours worked by everyone, but you all pulled together and did Wigan proud.
Thank you also to officers who’ve taken up roles in the central investigation teams at the drop of a hat; thank you for your flexibility.
This month the focus of the Brief is on our Force Intelligence Branch (FIB) and District Intelligence Unit (DIU). Intelligence is key to us being able to deploy our resources to reduce and prevent crime, target offenders, and protect victims. The FIB and DIU work together to review and analyse intelligence and inform our policing response. It is incumbent on all of us to play our part and one small piece of information could be the jigsaw piece that completes the picture which enables an effective policing response. There are countless times when a small piece of intelligence, for example, details of a vehicle parked outside an OCG member’s address, has brought an investigation together to bring offenders to justice.
For those that haven’t visited our DIU at Wigan, I would encourage you to do so and speak to our staff to understand the work they do and how we can all play our part in keeping the communities of Wigan safe. Please remember, alongside your business as usual, the three priorities for Wigan are: domestic abuse, child protection, and quality, standards and behaviour in everything we do. Keep up the good work!
Ch. Supt Clare Jenkins.
Wigan Challenger shortlisted for a Chief Constable Award
Wigan Challenger team has been nominated for Team of the Year at the Chief Constable Awards for having ‘consistently delivered an outstanding service to Wigan’ in relation to targeting, tackling and reducing serious and organised crime (SOC) in line with the 4P plan; prepare, prevent and protect.
The team is sortlisted alongside Oldham Complex Safeguarding team and the Vera Unit in the catergory.
Wigan Challenger consists of a shared inspector, one sergeant, six PCs and one member of police staff. The team has led the way in the force with the creation of the Wigan Challenger Strategic Partnership Board, taking a multi-agency whole-systems approach to tackling SOC by tapping into powers and resources from a range of partner agencies including the Department for Work and Pensions, local authorites and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service, and more.
This “Achilles Heel” approach can utilise multi-agency tactics to disrupt and dismantle OCG members. These tactics include utilising powers held by partners such as building regulations, TV licensing, environmental health, debt recovery agencies, benefits agency, and more.
DI Patrick Wood of Wigan Challenger, said: “It’s personally an honour to work
with the team who are all fantastic at what they do.
“The work they have done over the years in tackling serious and organised crime and the wider support they give to the Wigan district has really brought the Challenger brand to the forefront in local and national media, which was evidenced again recently through a dedicated operation where we identified the UK’s largest ever amphetamine laboratory.
“I am so happy the team have been nominated for this award and proud all their hard work is being recognised.”
Ch. Supt Jenkins said: “The Challenger Team at Wigan consistently punch above their weight in terms of output considering the small size of the team. The outcomes speak for themselves and during 2023/24 they seized over £107k of assets.
“The team has strong established relationships with other districts, forces and partners and continually delivers outstanding results, as they have achieved over the last 12 months.
“The team embodies GMP’s priorities. They are tackling serious and organised crime at every opportunity, disrupting and enforcing, and protecting vulnerable people being exploited.
“This team is excellently led and is deserving of consideration for this recognition.”
PCSO described as ‘wonderful example’ by resident
Shout out to PCSO Gillian Wray who was recently paid a lovely compliment by a resident in the Tyldesley area.
‘A wonderful example of what a neighbourhood officer should be’ - this was how the member of the public described PCSO Wray for the work she recently did in their neighbourhood.
They said: “Gill is a wonderful example of what a neighbourhood
officer should be. She listens to concerns and reports of local offences. She provides feedback and offers advice to prevent and deter crime and anti-social behaviour, which is very important. Nothing is too much trouble for her.
“Our local church, Sacred Heart, was being targeted by young people. She visited the site when she was on duty and actually caught some youths in the grounds
and took appropriate action.
“I would like to thank Gill for her dedication and concern for the vandalism and burglary at the church and church house attached.”
Reacting to the member of the public’s words, PCSO Wray said: “It feels wonderful to have someone say that. I have worked on the Tyldsley area for a very long time and it is so nice to receive such positive feedback.”
Are you ready for Right Care, Right Person?
Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) is set to go live at GMP on Monday 30 September.
RCRP is a nationwide initiative aimed at identifying the most appropriate agency to provide support to our communities. The police are not always
the right agency to respond to calls from the public, and RCRP will provide a framework for those calls to be directed to providers who are better placed to help.
In Greater Manchester, RCRP will apply to G15 jobs which cover
concern for welfare, patients walking out or going AWOL from healthcare establishments, and medical support.
Missing persons are no longer part of RCRP and now fall under Operation Addition.
Please be aware that no changes should be made to the way we work before Right Care, Right Person is live.
Whom does this affect?
Decisions around RCRP will be made predominantly within FCCO and by call handlers using a rigorous assessment tool. District officers and staff are not required or responsible for making RCRPrelated decisions; and district teams will not need to refer to RCRP at any point during their shift. If you have a query about a job which you believe should fall under RCRP, please speak to your line manager.
RCRP and the law
Under common law the police do not generally owe a duty of care to protect individuals from harm – whether this is caused by themselves or others.
The Human Rights Act 1998 does include provisions under which the police are responsible for taking reasonable measures to protect individuals from harm caused by others or by themselves:
• when there is a real and immediate risk to the life of a specific and identifiable person or group of persons (Article 2); or
• when there is a real and immediate risk of that person being subject to serious harm or other inhumane treatment (Article 3).
Under GMP’s RCRP processes, we will no longer respond to category 1 medical matters; these will be passed to the North West Ambulance Service as a matter of course.
Training
Before RCRP goes live on 30 September, all officers and staff in training and public-facing roles must complete a 15-minute training package via College Learn, which can be found at https://www.learn. college.pnn.police.uk/CL/Content/ Summary/47978.
If there are any issues or queries you would like to raise, please email RCRP_Training@gmp. police.uk.
Resources and support
If you have a question about Right Care, Right Person, you can email the project team at RCRP@ gmp.police.uk.
Meet the media office: your communications team
The Corporate Communications branch is the bridge between the force, it’s employees and the public.
The branch deals with all internal and external communication with employees and the media. Our main goal is to support operational policing and to enhance public confidence. The branch is located on the ground floor at Greater Manchester Police Force Headquarters (GMPFHQ).
Its mission is to keep the public informed, safe, and engaged while also supporting our officers and staff.
In today’s fast-paced world, effective communication is essential for public safety. The media office provides proactive and reactive communications and media support to officers and staff of all ranks.
The team is made up of a media manager, two team leaders, a number
of media officers, two social media support officers and a public relations and communications apprentice.
The media office takes on a variety of initiatives to increase public safety and enhance communication. For example, we warn and inform the public in response to incidents and emergencies.
The team also produce multi-media content to help with reduction and prevention of crime, harm and antisocial behaviour, while also publicising delivery of good work to build public trust and confidence.
In addition, they provide training and support to officers of all ranks, helping them navigate media interactions.
Finally, they facilitate media opportunities proactively and reactively across incidents and portfolio areas, as well as requests for filming and documentaries, ensuring that all
enquires are managed through the media office.
Following the tensions throughout the UK, they focused on ensuring that communities within Greater Manchester felt safe and supported by:
• Providing messaging to build community reassurance and confidence in policing
• Showing a visible police presence in media for public reassurance.
• Promoting the sentencing and charges of people involved in the riots.
The media office office hours are Monday to Friday from 6:30am to 7pm and on weekends from 8am to 4pm. For any enquiries, please contact the team at ext 62230 during weekday office hours or via email at press.office@gmp.police.uk.
Officers praised for locating missing elderly woman and taking her home
‘The response team at Wigan were brilliant’ is what an officer for Lancashire Police wrote in to say about Sgt Nick Walton (02630), NPO Beth Quin (04799) and the team at Wigan for their efforts in locating a vulnerable missing person recently.
The officer explained: “When my wife’s aunt went missing from home recently, the response team at Wigan were brilliant. She suffers with dementia and had left her home the night before. The amount of effort the team put into locating her was exactly what you would hope for as a family member.
“Luckily, she was located by a member of the public in Lancashire. It would have been easy for GMP to have left her in the hands of North West Ambulance Service and Lancashire
Police, but I’m told that officers from Wigan made the journey to collect her and take her home.
“I’m an officer for Lancs Police, so have been involved in these situations many times. I have to say that I’m
incredibly grateful to Sgt Walton’s team and feel they should be recognised for their efforts.”
On receiving the compliment, PC Quin said: “It’s amazing! I’ve been made up with that comment and had a few officers messaging me to congratulate me.
“I really appreciate the recognition but I was just doing my job and we all worked together as a team for the best outcome.
“Everyone deserves the credit for a job well done and returning the lady safely to her home. I don’t feel I deserve to be singled out when all of E Relief response deserve the credit. The phone call I received from her sister was enough for me – it makes the job worth doing.”
