Staffordshire Police doing all they can to handle thousands of extra 999 and 101 calls
The force says they're getting around 70% more calls than they were two years ago
Last updated 22nd May 2024
Staffordshire Police say they're dealing with around 60,000 more 999 and 101 calls than they were two years ago.
Chief Constable Chris Noble says the control room is receiving around 28,000 more 999 calls and 30,000 more calls to 101 than they were in 2022.
It's a rise of around 60-70% to that of when the force was initially placed in special measures.
His Majesty's police inspectorate lifted them out of that yesterday - but we're told huge challenges still remain particularly on the non-emergency 101 service.
"That's a key commitment of mine." said Chris.
"We've had 30,000 additional 101's and there's still some of those quite frankly which are not the police's business.
"I'm not comfortable with where we are around that. Recognising there are a lot of calls still coming in to policing that are not about policing.
"But - through better technology, more staff, and through more effective ways of working I'm pretty confident we can see that service improve significantly.
"We've got live chat running at the minute, we've got Single Online Home - and we're working with a number of companies at the minute to see a real shift with 101."
Chris continued: "“When we were first placed in ‘Engage’ in June 2022, we were taking nearly 25 seconds to answer 999 calls. Now, 999 calls are consistently answered in less than 10 seconds.
"Our control room staff are now routinely identifying the signs of vulnerability in our contacts with the public, enabling us to help and respond to those most at risk more effectively."
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