Chief Superintendent Janette McCormick of Trafford Police answers your questions about policing

We took your queries - on issues ranging from bobbies on the beat to response times - to Chief Superintendent Janette McCormick, who is based at Stretford Police Station.

Our aim was to find out what mattered to you about policing in Trafford and what would make you feel safe and secure.

Here's what Ch Supt McCormick, said:

Qu1. A record rise in house burglaries coincides with your decision to take officers off the beat and send them to college to learn Urdu! Last October I wrote to this paper predicting this move would be a disaster. So how many officers went through this course and how many burglaries have been allowed due to fewer police on our streets?

A1. We set officer levels in line with predicted demand and threats not in line with just staff available. We carefully plan to ensure we always have at least the minimum staffing levels on to respond to calls, patrol neighbourhoods and investigate crimes. The levels are also dependent on seasonal crime trends, such as antisocial behaviour and criminal damage around Halloween. In this way we can respond to your calls more efficiently as well as acting as a deterrent for criminals.

Burglary levels have increased across the country and Greater Manchester. Many think linked to the economic downturn, although there is no direct evidence for this.

In line with this, Trafford has also seen increases in burglary levels, which is disappointing given all the work we have done to bring levels down for you over the last 3 years. We continue to target our offenders and work with you to ensure you protect your property. We still have lots of windows and doors left open and as the weather warms I would strongly urge people to keep them locked.

If you need any advice please ring your Neighbourhood Team see our website gmp.police.uk

Q2. I was involved in a hold up at a garage on Chester Road last October. I called 999 and never got a response. I wrote to the police asking why this was and still no response. What are the criteria for getting a response to an emergency call? Why does it take so long to respond (if any response is given? How do you intend to ensure faster response times in future?

A2. I am really disappointed to hear this was the service you got. This is unusual and if you would contact me directly or through the paper I will look at why this happened. Telephoning 999 or 0161 872 5050 will connect you to the control room, which will assess whether you or others are at risk. For emergency calls we commit to attending your call within at least 15 minutes and Trafford currently attend over 95 per cent of those calls in that time. Sometimes all our staff are tied up at incidents and we don’t get there in that time, but in this case we will assess the incidents we are at and pull officers away to ensure your safety as soon as possible. For less urgent incidents we aim to get to you within and hour, and for other calls four hours, but we can schedule visits to better suit your need. All incidents are logged and cannot be closed unless an officer has responded to that call. Everything is recorded on a computer system and also voice recorded so we can track what has been said and how we respond. I would be happy for officers to show you around the control room and how we respond to calls.

Q3. A lot of drug-related arrests were made recently in Trafford. How do you intend to ensure drug crime is stamped out in future because surely a one-week 'blitz' is not enough? What measures are in place?

A3. You are right, one operation does not tackle the issues of drugs. This was just one of many we do every week. However, on this occasion it got media attention as it was carried out during National Tackling Drugs week. Managing drug use, including alcohol, is very important to make people safe and feel safe. Money needed to feed drug habits, and the effect that drugs have on behaviour are the main issues for us. However, their impact on people’s health and their opportunities in life through school, jobs and relationships are wider impacts that often go unseen but are equally tragic.

Arresting people selling drugs is a focus for us because we need to stop the local supply. Feedback from surveys has shown that the Trafford public also think that this is one of our biggest priorities. It can’t and does not stop with arresting people.

We want to stop them using it in the first place and get them off it if they are. The police work with many agencies, such as the NHS and the local authority to deter and prevent drug misuse. We also work with these agencies to try and stop current mis users from committing crime.

Q4. How effective are PCSOs and why are there so many PCSOs instead of fully-fledged officers? Criminals know they don't have the same powers so how effective are they?

A4. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) are there to support communities. They don’t have a power to arrest a person, but they have a range of other powers such as issuing fixed penalties and confiscating alcohol and vehicles. A number of the roles undertaken by police don’t need the power of arrest. Arresting someone can take the officer away from streets for a long time.

You often ask me for more visible patrolling.

The powers PCSOs have enable them to undertake a role linking and being visible within communities, resolving issues that don’t need some arrested, and calling on their police officer colleagues where they do. People often say they just want it sorting out not necessarily someone arrested.

As a public service I have a responsibility to make sure we have the right people, with the right powers and skills to police in the most cost effective way. To do this we need a range of people, and as part of this we increasingly employ for example non-police investigators, where the skill but not the power to arrest someone is needed. I think there is a place for all these roles, the most important thing to me is the confidence people have said they have in our staff and how PCSOs make them feel safe because they are out there patrolling and can speak to them to passing on concerns.

Every area across Trafford has a dedicated PCSO – do you know yours? If you want to know more please look at www.gmp.police.uk/Trafford

Q5. How can you justify police stations keeping office hours? It is ridiculous to think they can effectively police their areas when they are closed at nighttime and early mornings - precisely the times criminals are active and they are needed.

A5. Police stations are just one of the many ways people get in contact with us. Now email, phone and text are increasingly used. People don’t want to travel several miles to a station, they would like one more conveniently located.

We have finite resources so can’t staff up everywhere 24 / 7, although Stretford is staffed 24-hours a day. We recently reviewed our stations for opening times and types of things people came to us for and we have changed our hours to better fit in with that. We have also opened up over 30 community contact posts for people with less urgent needs to contact us. Based in the community centres, libraries etc officers are there at set times identified for you to talk to them.

You can find out more information on these from the web www.gmp.police.uk/trafford.

We also opened a public service desk that can answer routine calls on crimes and incidents you have previously reported to update you, and we have phone and email access to all our Neighbourhood Teams that we respond to in 24 hours in line with our Policing Pledge. The phone lines have a minicom service for the deaf and the stations and phones can have access to language line for those whose can’t speak English. It is always a balance to try to be accessible to as many people as possible within the resources I have. Officers do not deploy out of all the stations but do cover the whole of Trafford 24 / 7, if I kept the station open that would be less for patrolling.

Q6. There used to be police officers patrolling the Metrolink but that stopped several years ago. If I'm unfortunate enough to travel on the Metro alone at night I feel vulnerable. Where did the funding go for police to be able to look after the Metrolink? What was it used for instead and can it be reinstated?

A6. The Metrolink used to fund GMP to police the service, this was additional to the funding we get from the Home Office and through council tax to police Trafford, and it came from Metrolink independently. Over a number of years the funding has been reduced and now stopped, and the service uses their own staff to provide a visible presence on the trains. The Police still do use the trains, both to be visible for you at key times and as transport, and we do undertake operations with Metrolink where there are specific crime issues, but we don’t have the resources to have dedicated officers on there without taking them from other parts of Trafford.

Q7. Has the extension of licensing hours led to more anti-social behaviour in Trafford's town centres?

A7. When the extended licensing laws came in we carefully monitored the impact of them on the level of disorder and assaults. There was no great difference in and it did prevent the mass exodus at closing time that had a huge impact on resources all at one time.

The binge drinking culture I think has had an impact and also has increased the people becoming victims of crime because they are in a vulnerable state. How contributory extended hours is to this I could not say. I would make an observation that the increase in the numbers outside pubs and clubs with the smoking ban can give a perception of disorder and large volumes of people that in itself may make people feel unsafe, even though they aren’t. Across Trafford we have done a lot to combat disorder in town centres. I am hoping you have seen more patrols, taxi marshalling schemes and visits to pubs by trading standards. Both Sale and Altrincham particularly have seen reductions in assaults and general crime, which is especially pleasing when you consider the investment and opening of new attractions that have seen increased numbers of people visiting from farther a field than ever. So in answer to your question no not a discernible increase but any variation is difficult to associate with the licensing laws given all the work we have done.

Q8. Are you a supporter of the 'Dixon of Dock Green' type beat bobby policing and would you agree that Trafford has a long way to go on this front?

A8. My question to this would be did he ever exist? If you asked me what is my view of policing and what do I think is important then I would say providing a local policing service that takes time to understand then responds to the needs of local communities, making them safe by reducing crime, providing a visible presence and dealing with disorder in the community.

I believe the public expects more than ‘Dixon of Dock Green’. They expect us to have specialist investigative skills using cutting edge technology to convict people at court, to protect people in relation to terrorist threats and public events. They also want the police to protect their rights to freedom of protest, yet ensure people aren't breaking the law. In Trafford I think we are striking the balance, whilst always aiming to do better. We have dedicated neighbourhood teams, but also specialist investigators and we are nationally acclaimed in the management of sporting events.

We make sure we plan and test our contingencies for the significant industrial premises in Trafford Park and we work with agencies, schools and communities to tackle gun, gang and knife issues that I don't think featured in the episodes I watched.

Q9. Instead of using time, money and resources for officers to go on fun trips to theme parks like Go Ape, why not put it towards looking after vulnerable members of society and having more bobbies on beat? Can this be done?

A9. I am accountable, rightly so, for all the money I allocate for policing in Trafford, as it is public funds. The borough has seen reduction in crime year on year for the past three years and surveys also show that confidence and satisfaction with the service officers provide has gone up. We respond now to more calls in a shorter period of time than ever and I have allocated more officers to neighbourhood policing teams. I think our achievements in these fields speak for themselves.

Q10. What is the focus of your attention now in Trafford as a whole? What are your priorities and how will you see that your aims and targets are achieved?

A10. The focus for Trafford falls into two main areas, making people safe and making them feel safe and the solutions for these are not always the same. Making people safe means bringing down crime especially those that harm individuals, families and communities.

I also need to ensure you are safe from the hidden aspects such as preparing for major events and eradicating potential terrorist activities. Reducing burglaries, robberies and serious violent crime are my focus. Crime in Trafford has reduced year on year since I have been divisional commander, so do you feel safer?

Are you confident to walk in your park and down the street at night? I tell you all the stats but media and other influences mean people don’t believe me. You believe how you feel inside and this is often affected by the crimes you see in your local area daily, damage to bus shelters and local disorder, as well as environmental issues of how a place looks. A focus for me is to work with partner organisations, such as the local authority, to tackle these issues.

Q11. I'm an elderly lady living on an estate which sees a lot of hooded youths tearing about on motor bikes and scooters across pavements and grass areas? What's being done to crackdown on that? It is intimidating for us residents!

A11. Off road use of motorcycles is a focus for police attention as it has such an impact on the quality of life for residents. We try to prevent access to the land where the riding is off road by working with the landowners to cordon off areas. We also try to identify the drivers and retrospectively prosecute them. You may ask why don’t we stop them there and then. Well we do but this can often result in a pursuit as the riders drive off.

There are dangers in doing this for the riders and police alike, meaning pursuit is not an option. In the past riders have died. Often you know the riders and we can video them and track them down. Specialist Road Policing Units undertake operations through the year but specifically in the summer months, but we try to target the operations where and when the issues are so if you have a specific problem please contact your Neighbourhood Team so we have the information to target the offenders.

Q12. Following on from the death of Giuseppe Gregory what is Trafford doing now to eradicate gun crime?

A12. All agencies in Trafford and Manchester have been working together over a number of years to tackle the issues of gun crime linked to gangs. We have significantly reduced the number of gun incidents and also had success in working with young people individually to take divert them from the gangs.

We have number of specialist youth workers who engage with young people that we flag up as at risk of involvement or harm. Many of these young people want out of the lifestyle but the peer pressure means they cant find a way themselves. We go into schools to talk to young people of the dangers and involve community members for advice on how best we can tackle the issues without alienating young people. I have often said ‘the answers lie in the community’. People need to have confidence in us to provide information for us to take guns off the street. GMP has a dedicated police unit ‘Xcalibre’ to tackle these issues and we can support and protect the identity of people who give us information in a number of ways. Communities must not tolerate gun crime and gang activity.

They must come together to stand against it. Tragic incidents such as Giuseppe’s death refocus all our efforts as they prove that, despite our successes, the culture of gangs remains.

Q13. It seems like there we're always hearing about knife crime and robberies during which knives are wielded at unsuspecting victims. How is this area being targeted? How can you effectively 'police' knife mis-use?

A13. There is an increasing national culture, for young people in particular, to carry knives. They are often seen as both a status symbol, as well as a means of protection from what they see as a perceived danger from others. This in itself becomes self-perpetuating. In Trafford we have seen an increase in the use of knives to commit offences, but this is at a much lower level than seen elsewhere. The recent high profile cases have often been linked to people carrying knives for ‘protection’, they have become involved in incidents and have resorted to the use of a the knife.

The solution lies, I think, in a cultural change so youngsters feel ‘safe’ and don’t feel the need to carry the weapon. I think this, combined with police action using stop and search powers and the use of knife arch during specific initiatives is the best path to success. Education and changing the culture of young people is all our responsibility from parents, to peers, communities and schools.

Q14. There seem to be a number of cyclists who prefer pavements to roads. In my eyes this number increases daily, both in residential areas and near shopping malls. Some cyclists ride at speed and I feel it is only a matter of time before a pedestrian is seriously injured in an accident.

I think it's about time cyclists were prosecuted for riding on pavements. What can be done about this?

A14. It is an issue and it is dangerous. The solution isn't though. For me many of the anti-social behaviour type offences, and I would class this as one, are about respect. As communities we should set standards and expect people to uphold them rather than through prosecution.

I don't think my officers should be focusing on this specifically as an issue, that said they should advise cyclists of the issues and get them to use the roads when they come across it. As communities we should as set standards and challenge where they aren't upheld. On holiday recently I was so encouraged for my children and I to cycle as the traffic conditions and the cycle lanes made me feel safe. I know this is not always possible but I think this is maybe an option.