Force Control Room Sees Improvements in Service to the Public

This week is International Control Room week, so we thought we should celebrate the important improvements made by Cleveland Police Control Room to the service it provides to those who call on 101 and 999.

International Control Room Week is a week dedicated to celebrating the unsung heroes of the Control Room and recognising the fantastic work that the teams do.

From September 2022 to September 2024, Cleveland Police Control Room has improved the rate of answering 101 calls within two minutes or less by 20% (from 64% to 84%).

The number of 999 calls answered within ten seconds or less has also improved by nearly 5%, to 89.2% of calls.

Superintendent Paul Richardson, Head of Public Contact for Cleveland Police, said: “The control room is the first point of contact for those who need to contact the police in an emergency or to report crime and information etc.

“We are always striving to improve our service to those who call us on 101 or 999. The Force Control Room takes its responsibility to the public extremely seriously and will always aim to answer all calls within ten seconds for 999 calls and two minutes for 101 calls.

“We know that when people call us it means they are in need of our help, so it’s of critical importance that we always strive to answer calls as quickly as possible and we hold ourselves to account for our response to the public.

“Our control room staff understand this completely, and as such our improvement in our service is clear within the figures; and it’s testament to their dedication and commitment to serving the public of Cleveland. I see everyday staff and colleagues striving to be the best they can be to deliver an outstanding quality of service to the communities of Cleveland and hope they feel rightly proud of their achievements.”

The number of calls to 101 which are abandoned, which is when someone ends the call before an operator answers it, dropped from one in seven, to one in 20.

Abandoned calls to 999 reduced from one in 200, to one in 300.

Superintendent Richardson continued: “Examining the reasons why calls are abandoned can help us to work out how to improve this service and ensure that the communities of Cleveland get the response they so rightly expect from their local police force.”

Always call 999 in an emergency. Call 999 if:

• a serious offence is in progress or has just been committed
• someone is in immediate danger or harm
• property is in danger of being damaged
• a serious disruption to the public is likely

In a non-emergency, people can also report information or crimes at www.cleveland.police.uk