Emergency calls to be shared on social media to show demand in contact centre

Demand in our force control room is continuing to increase over the summer period, and that’s why we’re sharing emergency calls on social media to highlight the challenges faced.

This Friday (28 July), we will be sharing real-time updates on 999 calls from 3pm until 10pm in a bid to showcase the exceptional demand we’ve been experiencing recently.

In the month of May alone, two record-breaking days for 999 calls were experienced in Staffordshire with more than 900 calls coming in over a 24-hour period.

The next month, we had five days where more than 900 emergency calls were received, including one day where levels reached an unprecedented 1,004 999 calls in a single period.

Force Operations Chief Superintendent Emily McCormick said: “Officers and staff in our contact centre are dealing with an increasingly broad range of incidents on a daily basis which all pose their own unique challenges.

“Whilst we have invested heavily in our triage function to help ease this demand and provide the best possible service to the public, we are still receiving a number of 999 calls which aren’t genuine emergencies. 

“Significant work has been carried out to improve our 101 and digital reporting services to ease this problem and we need as many people as possible to be aware of this if we want these calls to stop.”

Whilst peak demand is hard to predict, typical Friday nights in our contact centre usually involve calls relating to missing people, domestic abuse, road traffic collisions, serious assaults and concerns for the welfare of vulnerable adults.

To follow the event live on Friday, you can follow us on our twitter page @StaffsPolice and follow the hashtag #StaffsFCC for real-time updates on the calls we receive.

To read more on the demand faced in our contact centre, visit: Uplift in staff confirmed to service increasing demand in control room | Staffordshire Police