Police take days to respond to 999 emergency calls
Delays in dealing with violent crimes and sexual offences are putting public safety at risk, report warns
POLICE are taking days to respond to 999 calls despite saying they will be there within the hour, a report reveals.
Thousands of cases of serious crimes, including violence, burglary and sexual offences, are being placed in queues until officers are dispatched to visit the victim. In some instances it can take officers several days to turn up, despite victims’ calls being classed as requiring a “prompt” response.
About a quarter of all forces in England and Wales were identified as having problems in responding to emergency calls, something inspectors warned was “putting vulnerable people at serious risk of harm”.
In an annual review of police performance, conducted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire Rescue Services (HMICFRS), inspectors acknowledged that the system was under “severe strain”. But the watchdog warned that some constabularies – including some of the country’s largest forces – had to act urgently to ensure that victims received a better service.
Zoe Billingham, HM Inspector, said: “In the face of increasing pressures, dramatic increases in demand and rising number of complex crimes, like sexual abuse, child abuse and domestic abuse, most forces continue to do a good job in keeping us safe.
“But I have major concerns that policing is under significant stress. On occasions that stress stretches some forces to such an extent that they risk being unable to keep people safe in some very important areas of policing.”
She added: “We are concerned that in a minority of forces, the service is overwhelmed… in some forces there are so many calls that staff have not been able to allocate them quickly or there are not enough response officers to send to incidents. Almost a quarter of forces are not meeting enough of their demand in as timely way as we would expect, or are managing demand inappropriately. In some cases these practices are putting vulnerable people at serious risk of harm.”
The report identified problems with response times for West Midlands Police and Greater Manchester Police. In Cambridgeshire, during one month, inspectors found that the average response time for 999 calls, categorised as requiring a one-hour response, was actually 15 hours. In four other areas – Staffordshire, Warwickshire, South Yorkshire and West Mercia – it was found that officers were not responding to emergencies immediately, and were not considering the needs of the victims during the subsequent delay.
The report also acknowledged that in cases of life-threatening emergency, response times were generally good.
Ian Pilling, Greater Manchester Police’s Deputy Chief Constable, said the force had lost 2,000 officers and still received more than 3,000 calls a day.