Police force cuts 101 call answer time

Each month, the Wiltshire Police call centre receives around 10,000 calls to 101

A police force says the length of time it takes to reach one of its 101 call operators has dropped by more than two thirds in the last year.

In April 2024, Wiltshire Police said it took an of average 16 seconds to get through to them, whereas in March this year that figure had reduced to just five seconds.

The force says they have implemented solutions to cut waiting times and deploy help sooner, including hiring more staff and increasing training.

The national target is to answer 90% of calls in less than 10 seconds. Wiltshire Police said it has been at or around that figure for the last six months.

The force said call wait times did spike to 37 seconds in June - traditionally seen as one of the busiest times of the year.

It subsequently launched an improvement plan to help improve the numbers, conducting quality assurance audits and recruiting new staff.

It has also tracked the overall experience of staff in the contact centre and has retained a higher number of operators, boosting the number of experienced staff.

‘Hard graft’

There have also been improvements to the amount of time it takes to answer 999 calls, the force added.

Each month, the call centre receives around 10,000 calls to the non-emergency number, alongside 8,000 calls to 999 for immediate assistance.

Ch Insp Allen Lumley, part of the command team, said: "We want to make sure that we provide a sustained focus on putting the caller at the heart of what we do -staying empathetic to each and every caller.

"It has taken a long time to turn around our performance because of the time it takes to embed these things and start to bear the fruit of our hard graft.

"We will continue to work hard to enhance our performance and solidify the efforts made this far."