ALMOST a quarter of summertime calls to the police’s heavily criticised 101 reporting line were abandoned, the Chronicle can reveal.
Between July and September, an average of 383 calls a day did not end up being answered according to a police report, which said Sundays were a particular hotspot seeing the highest demand.
The unanswered call reports during the eight-week period represented 23 per cent of all public calls a figure the police said it was keen to address.
“We are fully aware of the frustrations that this can cause with the public reporting issues and getting through to speak with a resolution officer quickly via 101,” the report added.
“We are committed to providing a high quality service to all callers, directing those that are not police matters to the most appropriate agency and ensuring the 999 emergency line is prioritised and not misused.”
Atlas Court in Sheffield, which was set up in 2010 to deal with all of the force’s 999 and 101 reports, received just under 300,000 callers in its first year a figure that’s now trebled to almost a million.
A new system, which cost the police more than £12m, was supposed to be introduced in March but that was put back to June and then the launch was cancelled because of continued problems.
The ’Smart Connect’ system’s supplier, IT firm Sopra Steria, said further updates were needed before it is given the green light to be available to the public and no date is yet known for it going live.
Smart Connect relies on computer technology to speed up the process of dealing with people who contact police and is meant to interface with another system for internal police use, with the expectation of call handers resolving cases more quickly, so being able to move on to the next caller.
Average waiting times, according to police statistics, currently stand at two minutes and 40 seconds although some Barnsley residents claim they have endured regular 20-minute waits.
“Our staff at Atlas Court can be dealing with calls for quite some time,” the police report said.
“The average taken to answer a call during the eight-week period fell to two minutes and 40 seconds.
“This was a reduction in waiting time, despite the number of calls remaining stable over the last four weeks of the eight-week period.”
Last year, the call centre received almost 500,000 enquiries on the 101 line and in addition to this, the centre also received more than 240,000 999 emergencies stats which equate to 1,318 non-emergency calls and 660 emergencies every day.
A police spokesman added: “Customers can continue to report their crime to us on 101, or on 999 if your matter is urgent or relates to a threat to life.
“Alternatively, customers can report a non-emergency incident online through our online services.”
