Significant improvements have been made to the 101 and 999 call handling systems after the Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion raised concerns from the public.
The average wait time for the 101 non emergency number in December 2016 was 33 seconds, meaning calls are answered around three times faster than they were in the summer of 2016. The average time to answer 999 calls has more than halved to just 7 seconds in December 2016.
The average wait times are now the lowest they have been in 18 months, leading to a large reduction in abandoned calls.
The Commissioner held the Chief Constable to account to ensure a better service for communities. During a meeting in October, he was reassured to see an increase in training and supervision, the ongoing recruitment of staff and the delegation of non urgent tasks to other departments, ensuring call handlers can focus on helping those who need it most.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said “ Having listening to the concerns from the public, I promised that the service would improve, and this is a promise that I have delivered. There is no doubt about the level of commitment and professionalism, demonstrated by our call handling staff, and this coupled with the changes to technology being brought in as part of the wider OCC (Operations Communications Centre) project, will mean even greater improvements in the service in the years to come.
Our communities deserve an efficient and effective police service, and I am committed to ensuring this is delivered.”
Issued: Wednesday 1st February 2017
