Greater Manchester Independent Police Arrest and Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel
As part of our commitment to improving public trust and confidence in GMP the Deputy Mayor has established a Greater Manchester Independent Arrest and Custody Detention Scrutiny Panel. The Panel will help ensure that individuals arrested and detained by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have been treated lawfully, appropriately, with dignity and respect.
The Panel will review arrest and detention records based on a dip sample of randomly selected and pseudonymised cases, examining relevant data such as detention logs, video footage and crime reports. It will also consider emerging and thematic issues for scrutiny including the use of strip searches.
The findings are reported to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Safer and Stronger Communities, Kate Green, and to the GMP Chief Constable, which include good practice and organisational learning opportunities to bring about continued improvements to arrest and detention processes, procedures, standards, and practices across Greater Manchester and inform culture change.
The Panel is the first and only of its kind in England and Wales in its scrutiny of both arrests and detention. The Panel was established following findings from inspections by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services and recommendations in the Baird Inquiry report commissioned by the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
Membership
The Panel is made up of individuals with both professional and lived experience of arrest, detention and other areas relevant to the Panel and its duties. Members are drawn from all walks of life, united by a shared sense of responsibility and commitment to this duty.
The independent members have a wide range of experience and expertise in organisations linked to areas such as criminal justice, victims and communities, as well as subject matter experts in areas that may include, but are not limited to, mental ill-health, health and social care, vulnerable adults and children, domestic and sexual abuse, policing, race equality, trauma informed approaches and neurodivergence.
The Panel is chaired by a senior GMCA representative.