00:00 Andy Burnham is planning for every taxpayer in Greater Manchester to pay at least £10
00:06 more each year to fund the police.
00:08 The Greater Manchester Mayor wants to raise the part of the council bill which goes to
00:11 policing by the full amount allowed, increasing the total police precept for Band A properties
00:17 to £162.20 next year.
00:21 The money will be used to set up dedicated crime teams in each district to proactively
00:25 tackle and investigate burglary, robbery and vehicle crime, respond to 101 and 999 calls
00:31 faster and investigate crimes quicker.
00:34 This comes just months after Greater Manchester Police was lifted from special measures following
00:39 a report in late 2020 which identified serious failings.
00:43 We asked people in Manchester for their opinions on this proposal.
00:46 I think £10 a year probably you wouldn't really particularly notice.
00:50 I mean I know there's the cost of living crisis but I think £10 is probably not a lot to
00:54 pay for the police.
00:56 It would be good to see a few more round and about.
00:59 Lots of people don't bother to even report crimes, particularly burglaries or break-ins,
01:03 car troubles, whatever, because they feel there's no point because the police don't
01:07 have any time or money.
01:09 Because there's lots of people that are especially getting robbed in houses and the police don't
01:14 arrive and that's the sort of thing.
01:17 Just to be there when they needed to turn up, not just to say, "OK, I'll put it on the
01:22 list."
01:23 Where I live you never see a policeman, ever, ever.
01:26 So they need to be seen, they need to be driving about in the cars or walking about like they
01:31 did years ago.
01:32 I think we pay enough kinds of taxes as it is, to be honest, and not the fact that I
01:36 think we need to increase the price but I think we need to increase the police in the
01:40 city centre.
01:41 It's absolutely ridiculous, especially in places like Piccadilly Gardens where it's
01:45 got a high crime rate and there's no one, there's no police there at all.
01:49 I think the job is to protect and help people, not just for major crime, to be doing everyday
01:55 crime as well.
01:56 I don't really think that you should get more money at all, to be honest, I think we've
01:58 got enough money.
01:59 Respect for the police isn't great, across the country, not just in Manchester, and I
02:03 think maybe putting more training into how police handle situations.
02:07 There's been situations where I've witnessed myself where there's been crimes committed
02:11 and the police have been very close but haven't stepped up.
02:14 I feel if we're going to start putting money into something that's already defected then
02:19 maybe we should concentrate on getting that to a certain standard before we then start
02:22 trusting the police in doing the job just to get an extra tenner off everyone.
02:28 All these plans that are going ahead for leisure facilities and so on, a lot of the people
02:32 in Manchester won't be able to afford that anyways.
02:35 If there was more things to do they wouldn't be on the streets, there'd be less crime and
02:38 the police would be able to control things better and actually put the money where their
02:42 mouth is, so to speak.
02:43 We have a really, really poor police force.
02:45 We have a police force with an appalling record at the moment.
02:49 So funding Greater Manchester Police as it currently operates is just not on as far as
02:56 I'm concerned.
02:57 I'd sooner see them completely disbanded and rebuilt.
03:01 For how long have they been in special measures now?
03:03 And the solution that says give them more money is no sort of solution at all in my
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