Police force 'answering more calls quicker'

Greater Manchester Police responds to about two million calls each year

Calls to the police are now being answered quicker than they were three years ago, a force has said.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was second from bottom in a league table of police forces in England and Wales in 2021.

The average time for answering 999 calls has reduced from 25 seconds to four seconds.

A GMP representative said the force responds to two million calls a year, including over 1,700 to 999 daily.

The force has invested in staff to answer calls and record crimes and employs nearly 8,200 officers.

'Solving more crime'

For 101 non-emergency calls, the average speed has fallen by 80 seconds over three years to 54 seconds by March 2024.

The force said it also recorded 135,726 emergency incidents – about 370 per day – which it got to within an average of nine minutes and 34 seconds.

The national expected standard is 15 minutes.

GMP Det Ch Supt Natalie Dalby said the figures showed the force had "made significant progress since the chief constable came in three years ago".

"We are answering the phones quicker, getting to incidents quicker, recording crime more accurately and solving more of them, and arresting more people," she added.