Wiltshire Police already taking steps to improve 999 response times
Home Office data has ranked forces across the country
Last updated 31st May 2022
New data from the Home Office has shown that Wiltshire Police are performing below average when it comes to 999 call response times.
The county's force's average answering time is at 16.6 seconds, the national average is 16.1.
Meanwhile, nearly all UK police forces are failing to meet a target to answer 90% of emergency calls in under 10 seconds - including in Wiltshire, who's figure is at 61%.
But the force say there are discrepancies in the data, and their own recordings suggest their number should be higher.
They say the Home Office data does not account for technical issues linked to how our telephone provider processes incoming calls.
Chief Inspector Doug Downing, who runs Wiltshire Police’s Contact Centre, says:
“Regardless of how call times are measured, we remain committed to reducing call waiting times for the public. Our dedicated staff are working incredibly hard to achieve this. Last month our operators received more than 6,500 999 telephone calls from the public.
“Our number one priority remains the assessment of threat, harm, risk, and identifying vulnerability at the first point of contact with the public. But a close second is rapidly responding to 999 calls - it’s something my team are passionate about.
“As part of our drive to reduce call times, we are exploring new systems which should help reduce some of the demand on our call handlers, by allowing officers to update incident logs themselves - freeing up our call handlers to respond to the public.”
STEPS FORWARD ARE ALREADY BEING TAKEN
Meanwhile, Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner says the statistics are a concern but steps have already been taken to improve it.
Philip Wilkinson says the numbers are not where he would like but is reassuring the public that it will get better.
This includes exploring new systems to help reduce demand on call handlers by allowing officers to update incident logs - freeing up call handlers to respond to the public.
A recruitment drive is also currently underway to bolster staffing in the control room.
Philip said:
“Quite rightly those ringing 999 in an emergency expect their calls to be answered immediately and what today’s league tables show is these calls aren’t being answered as quickly as they should be by Wiltshire Police.
“While there may be some discrepancies between the statistics collated by Wiltshire Police, and those provided by BT, today’s figures are a more accurate depiction of a caller’s experience when calling 999.
“People call 999 because they are in a genuine emergency or because there is a crime in progress. They are reliant on the police in their moment of need and while I am reassured to know the Force is making rapid adjustments to improve the time it takes for them to answer calls.
"In order to maintain public confidence in Wiltshire's policing service, we must start to see improvements in weeks, not months.”
The force have now launched a survey for people to tell them about their experiences with the 101 and 999 services.
You can take part in it by clicking here.