Police are failing to respond to one in five 999 calls in time

8:10am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News

The number of 999 calls to incidents is up 37 per cent on last year The number of 999 calls to incidents is up 37 per cent on last year

POLICE officers in Essex are failing to respond to nearly one in five emergency calls in time.

Essex Police aim to reach at least 90 per cent of 999 calls requesting help within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes for rural locations.

Between January and March they reached just 81.7 per cent of calls in time.

The introduction of “improvement plans” only raised this figure to 82.9 per cent between April and July.

And the force blamed a huge increase in the number of 999 calls it received for the failures.

Officers were called out to 999 calls 5,279 times between April and May in 2011. Over the same period this year it rose to 7,266 calls – a 37 per cent increase.

An Essex Police spokesman said despite the rise in calls, crime was falling at a time when the force is trying to find £42million in budget savings.

He said while there had been a greater number of calls requiring an emergency response, these did not always lead to a crime being recorded.

For example, a road traffic collision may require a response, but can often turn out to be an accident.

 Mick Thwaites, an independent candidate for the police and crime commissioner role, said the likely cause of the waits was the recent loss of 20 members of staff from the force information room along with hundreds of officers and PCSOs.

He said: “Police have to respond when the public calls in a timely fashion. If they do not, the public will lose confidence.

“I believe the austerity cuts are starting to hurt. We are starting to see the impact on Essex Police’s performance.”

The police spokesman said the force was determined to get to calls quicker He said: “We are maximising the number of officers available to investigate crime, police the streets and respond to emergency incidents.

“We have introduced a new model of borderless policing, supported by new resource tracking software.

“We are installing mobile data terminals in our police vehicles, which allow officers to stay out on patrol for longer.

“These developments, among others, provide control room operators with fast time information to locate and deploy police officers and PCSOs as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and North Essex, suggested the non-emergency 101 number should be publicised.

He said: “I expect there are quite a lot of times people are calling 999 when they don’t need to. It would also help if Essex citizens stopped inventing incidents.”

Comments (12)

7:44am Tue 4 Sep 12

V_is_back says...

Still, those tory cuts won't affect frontline services… right?
Still, those tory cuts won't affect frontline services… right? V_is_back

8:59am Tue 4 Sep 12

Rich'Carol says...

If they keep cutting the number of policeman in Essex and keep shutting police stations they might be able to up the 15 to 20 minutes ETA to half an hour.
If they keep cutting the number of policeman in Essex and keep shutting police stations they might be able to up the 15 to 20 minutes ETA to half an hour. Rich'Carol

9:16am Tue 4 Sep 12

AndyBSG says...

"Essex Police aim to reach at least 90 per cent of 999 calls requesting help within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes for rural locations."

That in itself is a disgusting response time. I'm sure a woman who manages to phone the police just before her husband starts beating her or someone being chased by a gang of yobs who want to give him him a good kicking will be pleased to know help will be with them in just 15 minutes!

This is the direct result of cutting back on officers on the street and closing down stations.
"Essex Police aim to reach at least 90 per cent of 999 calls requesting help within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes for rural locations." That in itself is a disgusting response time. I'm sure a woman who manages to phone the police just before her husband starts beating her or someone being chased by a gang of yobs who want to give him him a good kicking will be pleased to know help will be with them in just 15 minutes! This is the direct result of cutting back on officers on the street and closing down stations. AndyBSG

12:45pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Test Tickle says...

V_is_back wrote:
Still, those tory cuts won't affect frontline services… right?
I think you may have missed out an 'n' from the word "cuts" ;)
[quote][p][bold]V_is_back[/bold] wrote: Still, those tory cuts won't affect frontline services… right?[/p][/quote]I think you may have missed out an 'n' from the word "cuts" ;) Test Tickle

12:58pm Tue 4 Sep 12

emcee says...

Lack of money is not the reason why frontline services are being affected. Even with the cuts, the police forces still have a higher budget, in real terms, than they have ever had, by quite a large amount. The problem is with how the budget is managed and the huge amount of wastage that is allowed to happen.
The trouble with allowing the budgets to be managed by their recipients is that when budgets are reduced the best way to show disaproval is to cut the services where it will hurt so that the people will show disaproval towards the government.
Lack of money is not the reason why frontline services are being affected. Even with the cuts, the police forces still have a higher budget, in real terms, than they have ever had, by quite a large amount. The problem is with how the budget is managed and the huge amount of wastage that is allowed to happen. The trouble with allowing the budgets to be managed by their recipients is that when budgets are reduced the best way to show disaproval is to cut the services where it will hurt so that the people will show disaproval towards the government. emcee

2:51pm Tue 4 Sep 12

justifiedcause says...

Essex Police is a joke! This easter sunday i was pulled over in my bmw, firstly the police commented on my age of 21 and driving a bmw. Then when i showed them my insurance which they claim i didnt have they said decided to call the MIB which suprisingly enough was closed! so they impounded my car. resulting in me having to pay the recovery fee and storage fees. i did get the fine and points squashed when my insurance called the police station. long story short police wont attend anywhere quickly unless they can earn out of it!
Essex Police is a joke! This easter sunday i was pulled over in my bmw, firstly the police commented on my age of 21 and driving a bmw. Then when i showed them my insurance which they claim i didnt have they said decided to call the MIB which suprisingly enough was closed! so they impounded my car. resulting in me having to pay the recovery fee and storage fees. i did get the fine and points squashed when my insurance called the police station. long story short police wont attend anywhere quickly unless they can earn out of it! justifiedcause

4:44pm Tue 4 Sep 12

firedog says...

They will be cutting their tea breaks next,then you might see some action.
They will be cutting their tea breaks next,then you might see some action. firedog

7:16pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Brunning999 says...

emcee wrote:
Lack of money is not the reason why frontline services are being affected. Even with the cuts, the police forces still have a higher budget, in real terms, than they have ever had, by quite a large amount. The problem is with how the budget is managed and the huge amount of wastage that is allowed to happen.
The trouble with allowing the budgets to be managed by their recipients is that when budgets are reduced the best way to show disaproval is to cut the services where it will hurt so that the people will show disaproval towards the government.
You are an idiot if you really believe and are satisfied with that conservative propaganda.

Fact if you cut budgets prevention style policing will go and fire brigade policing will be the only alternative.

I hasten to add that people that have your thoughts in mind are less likely to need policing, which is good because those that do are suffering and that suffering will get worse while you are content in your own propaganda world.
[quote][p][bold]emcee[/bold] wrote: Lack of money is not the reason why frontline services are being affected. Even with the cuts, the police forces still have a higher budget, in real terms, than they have ever had, by quite a large amount. The problem is with how the budget is managed and the huge amount of wastage that is allowed to happen. The trouble with allowing the budgets to be managed by their recipients is that when budgets are reduced the best way to show disaproval is to cut the services where it will hurt so that the people will show disaproval towards the government.[/p][/quote]You are an idiot if you really believe and are satisfied with that conservative propaganda. Fact if you cut budgets prevention style policing will go and fire brigade policing will be the only alternative. I hasten to add that people that have your thoughts in mind are less likely to need policing, which is good because those that do are suffering and that suffering will get worse while you are content in your own propaganda world. Brunning999

7:19pm Tue 4 Sep 12

Brunning999 says...

justifiedcause wrote:
Essex Police is a joke! This easter sunday i was pulled over in my bmw, firstly the police commented on my age of 21 and driving a bmw. Then when i showed them my insurance which they claim i didnt have they said decided to call the MIB which suprisingly enough was closed! so they impounded my car. resulting in me having to pay the recovery fee and storage fees. i did get the fine and points squashed when my insurance called the police station. long story short police wont attend anywhere quickly unless they can earn out of it!
That story is factually wrong in many ways making you look iffy.
[quote][p][bold]justifiedcause[/bold] wrote: Essex Police is a joke! This easter sunday i was pulled over in my bmw, firstly the police commented on my age of 21 and driving a bmw. Then when i showed them my insurance which they claim i didnt have they said decided to call the MIB which suprisingly enough was closed! so they impounded my car. resulting in me having to pay the recovery fee and storage fees. i did get the fine and points squashed when my insurance called the police station. long story short police wont attend anywhere quickly unless they can earn out of it![/p][/quote]That story is factually wrong in many ways making you look iffy. Brunning999

3:53pm Wed 5 Sep 12

justifiedcause says...

Factually Wrong? Facts Are I Was There You Wasnt! So Your Accusation Of The Facts Being Wrong Is Dismissed!
Factually Wrong? Facts Are I Was There You Wasnt! So Your Accusation Of The Facts Being Wrong Is Dismissed! justifiedcause

5:04pm Wed 5 Sep 12

E-Types.. says...

But they are stopping cars on the roads with great success.

Lots of FPNs
But they are stopping cars on the roads with great success. Lots of FPNs E-Types..

3:00pm Mon 17 Sep 12

devil's fury says...

AndyBSG wrote:
"Essex Police aim to reach at least 90 per cent of 999 calls requesting help within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes for rural locations."

That in itself is a disgusting response time. I'm sure a woman who manages to phone the police just before her husband starts beating her or someone being chased by a gang of yobs who want to give him him a good kicking will be pleased to know help will be with them in just 15 minutes!

This is the direct result of cutting back on officers on the street and closing down stations.
Try driving from Southend to Eastwood in rush hour. How long does it take? 30mins on a very good day?

Now remove all plonkers from the road that panic when they have an emergency vehicle trying to pass. 20mins on a good day?

Now remove all traffic from the road say at 2am. 15 mins?

I would say 15-20mins is a very realistic time limit.
[quote][p][bold]AndyBSG[/bold] wrote: "Essex Police aim to reach at least 90 per cent of 999 calls requesting help within 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes for rural locations." That in itself is a disgusting response time. I'm sure a woman who manages to phone the police just before her husband starts beating her or someone being chased by a gang of yobs who want to give him him a good kicking will be pleased to know help will be with them in just 15 minutes! This is the direct result of cutting back on officers on the street and closing down stations.[/p][/quote]Try driving from Southend to Eastwood in rush hour. How long does it take? 30mins on a very good day? Now remove all plonkers from the road that panic when they have an emergency vehicle trying to pass. 20mins on a good day? Now remove all traffic from the road say at 2am. 15 mins? I would say 15-20mins is a very realistic time limit. devil's fury

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