Overview
The control room (formally known as the Communications Centre) manages emergency and non-emergency calls and deploys police resources to a wide range of incidents. On average the Department receives 1000 calls per day and manages around 700 incidents per day. The Control Room provides the core functions of Call Handling & Dispatch, Switchboard, Public Service Desk, Crime Bureau and PNC Bureau.
Areas of work undertaken
- Switchboard - operators process telephone calls, identifying the needs of callers and routeing calls to the correct destination. Operators also undertake reception duties at Police Headquarters.
- Call Centre - call handlers process incoming telephone calls i.e. 999 calls and routine incident reports. They identify, prioritise and respond to the needs of callers in compliance with Force policy, relevant standards and procedures. Incident reports which require a police response, are immediately presented to dispatchers via the Force Command and Control system, Intergraph.
- Dispatch Centre - dispatchers command the initial Force response to incidents by ensuring effective deployment of resources, using the Force Airwave Radio system.
- Public Service Desk - the core role of the desk is to resolve incidents by means of telephone advice or in partnership with other agencies i.e. Local Authority, Citizens Advice etc. In addition, the desk provides help and guidance to the public on a wide range of issues e.g. neighbour disputes, anti social behaviour problems and crime prevention.
- PNC Bureau - PNC operators deal with incoming enquiries and information broadcasts to and from other forces, as well as updating the Police National Computer with missing/wanted persons and stolen property/vehicles.
- Crime Bureau - Crime Bureau operators take details of crime reports over the telephone, removing the need for officers to attend a scene i.e. where no witnesses or suspects are known. In addition, they input crime reports sent to them (via a scanning process) by officers who have attended crime scenes.
