Police to share control room calls in postathon

Laura Boyce is a call handler in the Cambridgeshire control room

People can gain a "rare insight" into the daily pressures faced by control room staff as Cambridgeshire Police holds its annual "postathon".

Almost all calls taken between 16:00 GMT and 22:00 will be posted on the force's Facebook and Instagram feeds.

The postathon is held during Control Room Week — a global campaign that celebrates the vital work of emergency service control rooms around the world.

Some of those involved in handling the public's calls from Cambridgeshire have been sharing more about their jobs.

Laura Boyce, 34, (pictured above) is a call handler and has been working with Cambridgeshire Police for more than four years.

"It's a very rewarding job, it's a difficult job at times because obviously it's dealing with people in what could be the hardest time of their life, or their hour of need, and we need them to know that we're here to help and support them," she says.

"When we're able to do that for somebody as efficiently as we can, it's very, very satisfying to know that we've helped them and made them feel safe — and we've started that journey for them into making their lives a better place."

The control room is manned 24 hours a day, every day of the year

She gives an example of a seven-year-old boy who called to report his mother's boyfriend was assaulting her.

"The little boy was very scared, but he was also very good at staying on the phone with me," she says.

"Because he knew all the information about where he lived, we got help there within maybe 10 minutes and managed to arrest the person that was causing harm and made sure they were all safe."

Nikki Cope is one of those responsible for sending officers out to calls when they are needed

Nikki Cope, 46, is a dispatcher and has been with the police for 17 years.

Her job is to review the calls coming in, prioritise the highest-risk incidents, and dispatch officers.

"There are certain jobs that do stick with you, especially involving children and vulnerable people, sudden deaths, fatal road traffic collisions — those sort of jobs do stick with you," she says.

"There are a lot of traumatic jobs that we deal with, and I think as you've worked here longer, you kind of leave it behind you as you walk out the door.

"Every day is challenging, every day is different, and that's one of the things I like about the job - but I switch off when I get home."

Supt Nick Church runs the control hub

Supt Nick Church, 45, who heads up the control room, says: "On a typical day we'll have about 40 call handlers working in our contact centre and picking up over 1,000 calls a day and around 40 to 50 webchat conversations — and they'll be generating up to 450 incidents a day.

"Our postathon offers a rare insight, not only into the sheer volume of calls we handle, but also the diverse and complex nature of some of the incidents that come our way.

"While our frontline officers are often in the spotlight, it's important to recognise the relentless dedication of our control room staff, who operate behind the scenes."

Amber Neill wanted to work with the police since she was a child, she says

Amber Neill, 28, is a supervisor in the centre and has been working for the police for about five years, starting off as a call handler.

"I've wanted to be in the police since I was quite young," she says.

"I grew up watching a lot of crime documentaries, and my dad's a police officer, so that's always inspired me to join.

"I joined as a civilian just to dip my toe in and see if I liked being in the police, and I've really settled in as a civilian. Never say never in the future, but I'm quite happy where I am."

She says she loves the job, and the shift work makes for a good balance between the job and her home life.

"Having such a close-knit team can really help when the job can be difficult and stressful," she says.

"But it's also very rewarding as well when you see the result of the call... when you know that missing child's been returned home, when we've managed to catch someone who's burgled a house — those times make the job really rewarding."

To follow the postathon, visit @CambsCops on Facebook and Instagram, where live updates will be shared.