Nottinghamshire Police is bucking the national trend when it comes to answering emergency 999 calls – official data released today reveals.
Newly-published 999 league tables show that the force has one of the best 999 response times in the country.
Nationwide call data, issued today (Tuesday 31 May), shows that nine out of ten 999 calls received by Nottinghamshire Police were answered within ten seconds in the six months to April 2022. Most were answered within six seconds.
The force is ranked as the second best in England and Wales for the time it takes to answer calls, and is in first place when compared to forces of similar sizes.
Performance for this key ten-second metric varies across the country, with numerous police forces failing to answer the majority of calls within this nationally agreed target time.
In Nottinghamshire, between November 2021 and April 2022, it took the force an average of eight seconds to answer 999 calls, answering twice as fast as the national average, with 89 per cent of calls being answered in under ten seconds.
This compares with other UK forces taking an average of 16.1 seconds to answer 999 calls, with 71 per cent of calls being answered in under ten seconds.
Superintendent Sukesh Verma, of Nottinghamshire Police, is Head of Contact Management and responsible overall for control room operations.
He said: “Our committed control room staff continue to work extremely hard to respond to 999 calls as quickly as possible, and be there for people in their time of need.
“We are acutely aware of the swift and professional service the public expects of us and we remain determined to provide the best service possible to the public.
“Our dedicated call handlers do a remarkable job in often very difficult circumstances. People turn to them in the most difficult, challenging and frightening times of their lives.
“On a daily basis they are faced with distressed members of the public and every day they are doing an absolutely first rate job.
“This is a particularly impressive performance as, over the last year, our control room staff have had to deal with some very considerable challenges – including the implementation of new software systems, a move to a new building, the coronavirus pandemic and the dramatic increase in call volumes following the end of movement restrictions.
“I am proud of each of our hard-working control room staff and would like to thank them for this outstanding performance.
Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry made police response times one of her priority pledges in her Make Notts Safe Plan.
She said: “My commitment to the people of Nottinghamshire is to do everything I can to maintain the very highest standards in the way we respond to crime, support victims and prevent offences from happening in the first place. Much of that work starts with a single 999 call and the way we respond to it so I am delighted the force is performing so well in this area.
“When people call 999 it is mostly because they are in desperate need of help and don’t know where to turn for help. I will continue to watch this area closely to ensure the public continue to receive this excellent level of service.”
