Avon and Somerset police is the fastest in the country at answering 999 calls, new figures have revealed.
The Home Office set targets for police forces to answer 90 per cent of all the emergency calls it receives within ten seconds - and Avon and Somerset was the only force in the country to hit that target.
The average time someone has to wait on the phone if they’ve dialled 999 is just 6.1 seconds in Avon and Somerset - and the force took 22,767 calls in six months - around 125 a day.
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Of those, most were actually answered within five seconds - some 15,434 of them, and another 5,274 were answered between five and ten seconds. Avon and Somerset’s chief constable Sarah Crew congratulated the team in the control room who are so speedy to pick up the phone, saying it’s vital that they are quick.
"Being able to reassure members of the public that we can answer their call quickly after they dial 999 is a great service and I could not be prouder of our contact centre provision for supporting callers during, what could be, a terrible time,” she said. “I want to congratulate the control room for coming first nationally for speed in answering 999 calls. Having a fast response time to answering 999 calls is vital, especially when the caller is in distress or the emergency is ongoing,” she added.
It’s the first time figures of this sort have been released to the public, and every other force in the country failed to hit the target of answering 90 per cent of the calls within ten seconds.
The team in the control room are recruiting right now for new staff, to meet increased demand with more 999 calls than ever before. “It has been a challenging year with increased 999 demand. The entire control room team have worked extremely hard to ensure we are there for those who call us as quickly as possible,” said the head of the command and control room, Becky Tipper.
“999 must be prioritised for those who are in an emergency where life is at risk or offenders are on the scene. For non-emergencies, reports can be made online via our website reporting forms. The website can be accessed 24/7 and is an effective alternative to calling. There is also our 101 for anyone wishing to report non-urgent matters.
“During busier demand periods, there is a call-back option on the 101 non-emergency line, which results in the caller retaining their place in the queue but not being required to stay on the line. By doing this you are helping us to free up our call handlers to deal with emergency incidents on 999 and will be supporting us in saving lives,” she explained.
Other forces were nowhere near meeting the target. Humberside Police recorded the worst number, with only two per cent of calls answered in under ten seconds. South Yorkshire Police answered just 17 per cent, Durham Police 41 per cent, North Yorkshire 44 per cent and Gloucestershire 49 per cent.
Releasing the figures publicly for the first time, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The public deserve to know that their local police force will be at the end of the phone, ready to leap into action at seconds’ notice to protect them from harm.
“Fundamentally, publishing this data is about driving up standards in our incredible emergency services even further, so that the public can have every confidence in the police’s ability to save lives and keep our streets safe,” she added.
“We can now see where forces are excelling and where vital improvements need to be made and I thank the police for their commitment to ensuring we maintain the best emergency services in the world,” she added.
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