Norfolk Police second fastest for answering 999 calls in the UK
Research has found the force averaged an answering time of 7.16 seconds
It's been revealed that Norfolk Police is the second fastest force in the UK for responding to an incoming 999 call.
Research by personal injury experts Claims.co.uk found that it takes our county's police force an average of just 7.16 seconds to answer a call.
They were pipped to the post by Lincolnshire Police who respond in an average 7 seconds.
The government's target is 10 seconds.
Across the border, Suffolk Police had the fifth slowest call response time in the UK at 17 seconds.
Every call to 999 must be transferred from BT to the relevant police force, which adds to the delay.
How was the research carried out?
Researchers gathered data on the average time it takes for a call to be transferred to each UK police force from March 2023 to February 2024. They took the total number of calls and multiplied them by the average to find a weighted figure.
The sum of the weight figures was calculated, as well as the sum of the number of calls.
The weights sum was then divided by the calls sum to discover the weighted average for each police force and therefore determine the final ranking.
A spokesperson from Claims.co.uk has commented on the findings: "The time it takes for the police to respond to a 999 call is crucial – the longer the caller waits, the higher the risk of harm and danger to the individual.
"While it's great to see that the average call response time for the top ranking forces is under ten seconds, those that rank at the bottom will likely be concerning to locals.”
"However, the slowest response times should not instigate doubt on the perseverance and effort of police forces throughout the UK, as it instead suggests that the bottom-ranking forces are understaffed; these areas perhaps need more funding so that they can offer as much support as possible to residents of their areas."