Police say calls are being answered ‘three times faster’

From January 1 to June 30, 2023, contact handlers answered 150,195 calls to the emergency 999 number and 228,364 calls to the non-emergency 101 number. They also responded to 34,179 messages through their website and say “average answer times have been slashed”.

This year it has taken contact handlers an average of seven seconds to answer a 999 call from the moment the phone rings, compared to an average of 24 seconds last year.

The average answer time for 101 calls is one minute, 24 seconds. In 2022, it stood at five minutes, 47 seconds.

Chief Superintendent Deborah Alderson praised the control room staff, saying: “The dedicated staff in our contact centres do a truly amazing job.

“They never know what situation or who is at the end of the phone when they answer a call, and they show unwavering levels of professionalism and compassion when responding to people in emergency situations.

“It’s not rare for them to be talking to people who are experiencing the worst day of their life and they are often people’s first line of police contact.

“We are proud of these wait time improvements, but we’re not complacent.”

However, the force is seeing an increase in emergency calls. In the same six-month period in 2022, they received 5,000 fewer 999 calls.

Chief Supt Alderson added: “Unfortunately, not every call is reporting an emergency – and there are occasions when 999 calls don’t even require a police response.

“Misguided calls to 999 might seem harmless, but they create a huge demand on the staff working in the contact centres who could otherwise be dealing with genuine emergencies that require urgent police action.”

People should only call 999 if an incident or crime is on-going or someone is in immediate danger.

To report an historic crime, provide officers with information about an on-going incident, or contact police about any non-urgent matters, please report on Northumbria Police’s Tell Us Something web page, or call 101 if you’re unable go online.