Sexual exploitation and urban street gangs

Top cop’s challenges and fears for Manchester’s children

- STEVE ROBSON

CHIEF Superintendent Paul Savill has one of the toughest jobs in Greater Manchester Police.

The veteran cop has recently been handed permanent command of the City of Manchester division – a policing patch which mirrors the geographical boundaries of the metropolitan borough.

Covering just 44 square miles but home to around 550,000 people, it is one of the most densely-populated and deprived areas of the country.

There are some communities where criminal fraternities are deeprooted and distrust of police is high.

The City of Manchester accounts for around 25 per cent of all GMP’s crime even though the force covers another nine boroughs with a total combined population of 2.8 million.

But Manchester is also one of the most vibrant and exciting cities in the world. That is in part because it is a young city - more than a quarter of the population is aged under 20.

Chief Supt Savill says that is why one of his main priorities is to make Manchester a safer place for them to grow up.

In an interview with the M.E.N. he discussed what GMP is doing to tackle a wide range of crimes affecting young people – from sexual exploitation to knife violence.

As the country continues to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Supt Savill is backing the city council’s ‘Year of the Child’ campaign for 2022 to put young people at the heart of Manchester’s recovery.

And the need for action is urgent.

Researchers are increasingly finding that the pandemic has only worsened inequalities between children in the north and the rest of the country.

“We have to start from the position that the vast majority of children in Manchester are good, from a policing sense,” said Chief Supt Savill.