Leicestershire Police beat response time targets

Police in the UK aim to respond to 90 per cent of calls within 10 seconds but many have failed to achieve that target.

Leicestershire exceeded it (92.3 per cent) in December by picking 15,560 out of 16,851 calls inside that target time, putting it fifth in the table of quickest responding police forces that month.

Leicestershire failed to achieve the 90 per cent pick ups in 10 seconds target in October, when it recorded 86.4 per cent, and December, when it came close to the benchmark at 89.9 per cent.

Chief Inspector Adam Wardle, from the force’s contact management department, praised contact handlers for doing ‘an amazing job’ to help the people of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, while ‘remaining calm and focused’.

He added the force will continue to work hard to improve its response times.

He said: “We receive hundreds of calls every day and it is vital that these calls are answered as quickly as possible to ensure the appropriate help can be provided.

"It is therefore positive to see that our call response time is high. Our contact handlers do an amazing job in answering these calls while making instant decisions to help someone in need and to get the information required for officers attending the scene, all while remaining calm and focussed.”

He urged people to also use the online contact service for when the call is not an emergency or one which requires an immediate response, to free up the busy call answering team.