The festive season is always a busy time for emergency services. As part of this year’s Christmas campaign, Dorset Police is asking you to think carefully before you call and consider using the ‘Do it Online’ service available.
Last December, over 34,000 calls to 101 were received in the Dorset Police Force Command Centre. This is approximately 2,000 calls every day.
Dorset Police ran a six week campaign over the summer months in an effort to reduce call waiting times in the Force Command Centre.
A ‘Do it Online’ service was introduced making it easier and faster to make an enquiry or report an incident online, and examples of the calls received that are not police matters were published.
While progress has been made, a large number of calls are still being received to 101 that are for other agencies or not appropriate calls for the police.
Dorset Police Operations Manager for Contact Management, Kevin Sargent said: “Call handlers work extremely hard answering call after call, politely and helpfully.
“We know that at times there are queues, particularly at our peak times between 4pm and 7pm and we are working to address this. We are constantly recruiting new staff and are about to introduce new shift patterns to reduce waiting times.
“Please carefully consider whether your call is something the police can help with, before picking up the phone.
“For every call we are dealing with that is not a police matter, someone else who needs police assistance has to wait.
“Thank you in advance for your co-operation during this busy festive period.”
Follow Dorset Police’s Christmas campaign on social media and together, let’s get Christmas safety #AllWrappedUp.
