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Greater Manchester Police ends ‘welfare’ strip searches of people in custody

Mayor Andy Burnham has called it a "landmark moment".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 20th November 2024

The use of police strip searches for ‘welfare’ purposes have now ended in our region following a major inquiry.

Following the completion of the Dame Vera Baird Inquiry – which was an independent review into the experiences of women and girls in police custody in Greater Manchester, commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham and Deputy Mayor Kate Green back in 2023 – it was recommended that the use of ‘welfare’ strip searches be ceased.

The independent review was commissioned following reports in the media – most notably from Sky News – of accounts from three women in Greater Manchester.

The report took evidence from 14 complainants who spoke about their experiences in police custody between 2021 and 2023.

Now, an assessment from the Deputy Mayor on progress since the Inquiry’s publication back in July has found that 24 of the 26 recommendations made to Greater Manchester Police (GMP), including the end of ‘welfare’ strip searches, have been implemented.

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Greater Manchester Police has ended ‘welfare’ strip searches of people in custody / Credit: PickPik

Seven of the eight recommendations put to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are set to be delivered by next month.

Recommendations to GMCA included the establishment of an Independent Scrutiny Panel to look at arrests and custody records, and appointing a new Super Independent Custody Visitor to make unannounced visits to custody suites.

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Mayor Andy Burnham called the inquiry a “landmark moment” in the quest to improve the safety and treatment of women across Greater Manchester.

“In July, both GMCA and GMP committed to implement fully and faithfully the recommendations set out in Dame Vera’s inquiry. Back then, I called on GMP to bring an end to strip-searching for so-called welfare purposes within six months, and four months on, this practice has ended, and there is now a presumption against strip searches for concealment.”

The Mayor has thanked “all of those who came forward” to give evidence to the Inquiry.

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“It is clear that there is still progress to be made,” he continued.

“The Deputy Mayor and I will continue to hold up a mirror to unacceptable practices wherever we find them, and work with the Chief Constable and his team to ensure that improvements are delivered and sustained.”

Featured Image – Matthew Ansley (via Unsplash)

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Pep Guardiola agrees new contract to stay at Manchester City for at least one more year

Danny Jones Danny Jones Pep stay at Man City for one more year new deal

Blues will be delighted to hear that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is staying after agreeing to sign a contract extension that will keep him at the club for at least one more year.

The Catalan coach and supremely talented tactician has won all there is to win with Man City and after completing not only a record-matching treble but making history by becoming the first English team to win four Premier League titles in a row, you could argue his Etihad project is well and truly completed.

Guardiola, who joined City back in 2016, has gradually been creeping towards the end of his most recent contract, leaving those slowly searching for his replacement and the fan base wondering what the future holds for their next chapter.

But it turns out they don’t have to worry about life after Pep for a little while longer, as the 53-year-old has now extended his stay for at least another season. The blue moon that has loomed over Manchester for the best part of a decade isn’t going anywhere just yet.

Breaking the news on Tuesday evening, 19 November, The Athletic‘s Sam Lee revealed that Pep Guardiola will remain head coach for another season after agreeing to a new one-year deal.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, who is comfortably one of the most decorated and celebrated coaches in football history, was due to leave the club at the end of the current campaign.

However, although his contract would have seen him depart by June of next year, this new deal will now see him stay in post until the summer of 2026, which will talk his tenure to a full 10 years.

Although City themselves are yet to confirm the signing amid the international break, it’s only a matter of time before they deliver the news all Blues have been waiting for – news that will no doubt come as a huge relief given the immense success he has brought to East Manchester.

Despite waiting until now to seemingly decide his future, the man himself has actually been pretty clear on the matter, insisting that he “fell in love” with the club from the moment he got here and saying as far back as 2020 that “unless they [CFG] sack me, I will stay here.”

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Better still, while the details of the agreement are yet to be fully detailed, the report says that his new contract also includes the option to extend for a further year beyond that, meaning we could be looking at Pep in the dugout until 2027.

Should City go on to close the gap on current league leaders Liverpool, it would mean Guardiola would have overseen five title wins with the same team in a row: a feat only matched by very few in European football, most notably Juventus and Bayern Munich, the latter having managed 13 consecutive years.

Who knows if/when Guardiola will actually leave the Etihad Stadium for a new challenge, all we know is he changed modern football forever and has given Manchester – a city already spoilt in this respect – some of the most impressive football it’s ever seen.

All we do know is that the beautiful game’s passionate, bald, tiki-taka extraordinaire known simply as Pep is staying in 0161 for the time being and there are countless fans who are absolutely buzzing about it.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Optus Sport/Sky Sports (via YouTube)/Rufus46 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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‘Shocking’ images taken with AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts released

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Thousands of people in Greater Manchester have been caught using mobile phones while driving or not wearing their seat belts.

Images captured by the state-of-the-art ‘Heads Up’ camera system – which uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and human reviewers – as part of a trial in Greater Manchester, show drivers holding mobile phones in front of their face, to their ear while behind the wheel, and sometimes with passengers next to them.  

According to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in several cases, the cameras also found drivers and passengers, both passengers and children, not being securely fastened in their seats or not wearing seat belts at all.

The trial aims to detect drivers who are potentially breaking the law and putting themselves, their passengers, and other road users, at risk.  

‘Shocking’ images taken with an AI camera of drivers using mobiles and not wearing seatbelts have been released / Credit: TfGM

AI is used as the first filter in a bid to ensure privacy for “the vast majority of law-abiding motorists” while also checking hundreds of thousands of vehicles over an intermittent period, TfGM explained – something which would likely take a human reviewer several months to complete.

Images containing “evidence of an offence” then go through a two-stage human check to confirm that an offence has taken place.

Any offences detected as part of the trial were then passed on to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to consider for further action, however if no offence was committed, the image was immediately deleted by the software.

The trial – which was carried out by AECOM and Acusensus, on behalf of Safer Roads Greater Manchester – was held across the region throughout September and October to “gather data” and “understand the scale of the issue” to inform future education campaigns and enforcement.

It comes after it was revealed that nearly 10,000 people who live in, work in, or visit Greater Manchester have been killed or seriously injured on our roads over the last decade.

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During the deployment, the ‘Heads Up’ system recorded 812 drivers distracted by using mobile phones behind the wheel, and 2,393 incidents of seat belt non-compliance by drivers or passengers. 

As it stands, no offenders have yet been prosecuted from this trial, TfGM confirmed.

Featured Image – TfGM

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