Michael Todd's achievements

WHEN Michael Todd took over as chief constable of GMP on October 1, 2002, he inherited one of the worst performing forces in the country.

The incoming chief, then aged only 44, proposed a straightforward solution - he pledged to recruit more police officers and put more of them on the beat.

Mr Todd stepped out from behind his desk and joined uniformed bobbies on patrol, delighting rank-and-file officers with his old fashioned approach.

But just three months into the job, Mr Todd was confronted with the new reality of policing in Britain when Special Branch Officer Stephen Oake was murdered by al-Qaeda terrorist Kamel Bourgass.

DC Oake was stabbed to death at a flat in Crumpsall in January, 2003, as he struggled to detain the knife-wielding Bourgass during an anti-terror raid.

Mr Todd led the tributes to DC Oake, saying: "We know bravery when we see it and Steve saw Bourgass represented a serious and potentially fatal threat to his colleagues. He put himself in harm's way."

Following the death of DC Oake, Mr Todd called for changes to the way suspects were detained and backed government proposals to toughen police powers for dealing with terror suspects.

Lobbied

Mr Todd lobbied the government and local authorities for extra funds to put more officers on the beat and boosted GMP's manpower to more than 8,000 for the first time in its history.

He took 200 officers away from traffic duties so they could concentrate on tackling street crime and anti-social behaviour.

Three years into the job, burglaries were down 41 per cent, robberies by 32 per cent and car crime by a quarter.

Mr Todd took over a force which his predecessor Sir David Wilmot had labelled `institutionally racist' and the new chief said race issues would be a priority while he was at GMP.

But his efforts to improve the public image of GMP were hugely damaged by a BBC Panorama documentary The Secret Policeman, broadcast in October, 2003.

Reporter Mark Daly went undercover as a trainee officer and secretly filmed racist recruits at the Bruche National Training Centre, in Warrington, Cheshire, and also on patrol in Greater Manchester.

The film led to 10 officers resigning and 12 more facing disciplinary action.

Pressure

There was further pressure on Mr Todd in February 2004 when CCTV footage emerged which showed white GMP officers apparently kicking a black man on the ground in central Manchester - although the Independent Police Complaints Commission later decided there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against three officers involved.

Mr Todd promised to root out racism throughout the force and warned officers of his hardline approach.

He wrote a blunt letter to all his staff which stated that the force would `not tolerate sexist, racist, homophobic or other discriminatory behaviour'.

The letter added: "You should be very clear that unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances you are likely to be sacked whatever your position in GMP - if you are seen to behave in this way." Mr Todd was so determined to show that he had tackled the issue that he met the producers of The Secret Policeman and invited them to make a follow-up film showing the progress made.

Despite his success in cutting burglaries and robberies, the spiralling gun crime in inner city Manchester proved more difficult for Mr Todd to arrest.

Mr Todd admitted in one interview: "I think there is more of a gang culture here than in London.

"It is so ingrained that there is almost an acceptance. Teenagers become involved at a young age and grow up with it going on all around them.

"I think it is getting worse because of the availability of guns."

Assessment

The statistics appear to support the assessment - during his five-and-a-half year tenure as chief constable, a total of 27 people were shot dead on Mr Todd's patch.

He announced a series of policies and initiatives to tackle gun crime, but struggled to make any significant headway.

Shortly after taking over in Greater Manchester he backed a proposal by Home Secretary David Blunkett for tough minimum five-year jail sentences for anyone caught illegally carrying a gun.

And after an increase in shootings highlighted by the M.E.N. last year, Mr Todd, said tackling gun crime was his `greatest priority'.

He announced funding of £500,000 to pay for a radical policing package for Hulme, Moss Side, Longsight and north Trafford - areas hardest hit by the shootings.

Mr Todd said of gun criminals: "We will be relentless in bringing these people to justice. We are absolutely determined - we are never going to let it go back to the old `Gunchester' days."