GMP officers caught on camera encouraging victims of domestic abuse not to pursue their complaints

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Police officers have been captured on their own body-worn cameras encouraging victims of domestic abuse not to pursue their complaints, the M.E.N, understands, and failing to carry out basic enquiries.

After a series of devastating inspectorate reports criticised Greater Manchester Police for its record on domestic violence, including the high numbers of victims who had supposedly withdrawn their support for prosecution, body-worn footage was audited.

Deputy mayor Beverley Hughes has now described the attitude and behaviour revealed by the exercise as ‘really very concerning’, while one well-placed police source said it showed officers acting without empathy, discouraging victims from pressing charges and failing to investigate. READ MORE: GMP computer system branded ‘absolute scandal’ could be ditched within weeks The news follows a high-profile gender-based violence campaign launched by the mayor’s office in December, branded ‘#IsThisOk’, which aims to challenge the behaviour of men and boys.

At a meeting of Manchester council’s communities and equalities committee last week, however, councillor Sarah Judge said there remained an issue with the way rank-and-file officers approached domestic abuse. “My experience of dealing with the police, even in recent times, is still that there is an attitude of ‘that’s just a domestic’,” she said. “And we have to be really, really careful that if we’re putting adverts out and campaigns out - and talking at that really high level to try and and instil that trust within the public - that when they do make that contact with the police, that they are treated in a better way than they currently are. “How do we actually make sure we do hold that level of policing to account?” Barones