BEHIND THE SCENES at North Yorkshire's Police force control room
We've been to meet the team at Fulford ahead of what could be their busiest Summer on record
Last updated 25th Jul 2022
North Yorkshire Police has urged the public to keep their ‘999’ line free for genuine emergencies as demand is set to soar this summer.
On average the force receives around 8,726 ‘999’ emergency calls and 12,278 ‘101’ non-emergency calls a month.
Many 999 calls however are not an emergency, and so the force is highlighting alternative ways to contact police for such calls including calling 101, reporting online, or in some cases, calling an entirely different but more appropriate agency or service that is not the police.
The force admit that they need to improve response times to both 999 and 101 calls, Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield explains
“We’re investing in a number of measures in our Force Control Room to make improvements and get calls answered more quickly.
“This includes putting in place enhanced recruitment plans for more staff within our Force Control Room and expect to have recruited 10% above our establishment by early New Year.
“We have also established a pool of reserve staff to deal with administrative tasks on behalf of the Communications Officers in the Force Control Room. The additional costs for these interim arrangements have been funded by North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.
“The dedicated team of staff who handle our calls within our Force Control Room work incredibly hard, in a very challenging environment.
“We will be recruiting for our next intake very shortly so if you or someone you know is interested in joining the team, please keep an eye on the jobs section of our website or register your interest via our vacancies page.”
There were 8,984 emergency calls taken in June 2021, 9,689 in July 2021, and 9,572 in August. Non-emergency calls also increased with 14,912 calls made to 101 in June, 15,412 in July and 14,395 in August.
This year, the lines are even busier with 9,988 emergency and 12,450 non-emergency calls taken in June and so far, this month, 6,535 emergency and 8,055 non-emergency calls have been taken.
The length of call handled on 101 has increased from 6 minutes 41 seconds in 2021, to 7 minutes 15 in 2022 to date, which significantly increased from 2020 at 6 minutes 15 seconds.
The busiest month so far in 2022 was May with 8,847 emergency calls and 13,859 non-emergency calls.