Wiltshire Police slash time it takes to answer 999 calls
Wiltshire Council heard the improvements
Police have slashed the time it takes them to answer 999 calls, the Wiltshire Council Police and Crime Panel has heard.
Councillors were told that in 2024 it took call handlers in the crime & communications centre an average of 11 seconds to answer 999 calls. This year, the wait time is down to five seconds.
There was a similar cut in call waiting times on the 101 non-emergency number too – down from one minute in 2024 to 35 seconds in 2025.
In April 2025 9,445 999 calls were placed by members of the public, while 10,283 were made to 101.
Emergency response times were down too – with police officers responding to emergencies in 12 minutes and 20 seconds in 2024, and 12 minutes and one second in the first quarter of 2025.
However, call centre response times are unlikely to tumble further. The Police & Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, told councillors that “there are limited opportunities for further improvements in crime & communications centre performance without further significant investment owing to the scale and cost of IT systems required.”
Turning to crime statistics, the panel heard there was a slight increase in reported Violence with Injury crimes. In April 2025 there were 441 such reported crimes, while in the 12 months to April 2025 there were 5,621 – up 3.3 per cent in Swindon and 2.9 per cent in the county.
There were 506 reports of Domestic Abuse in April, and 149 reports of Rape & Serious Sexual Assault. Over the year, the number of reported Rapes & Serious Sexual Assaults was 1,651 – up 7.7 per cent on the previous year.
Incidences of Anti Social Behaviour showed a downward trend of 9.3 per cent over the year. In April there were 832 reports of ASB.
The panel heard that overall victim satisfaction for police performance was a shade under 75 per cent, with just under 85 per cent of victims being satisfied at the time it took police to arrive at an incident, and 90 per cent happy at their treatment by officers.