Devon & Cornwall Police asks for public support during the busiest time of year

Following months of planning, the summer holidays are now in full swing and police face their busiest time of year in Devon and Cornwall.

The school summer holiday sees some of our busiest times with the arrival of thousands of holiday makers and demand on emergency services increasing as people flock to our counties.

Figures from the last few years show how much the holiday season impacts on the police service with 999 calls increasing by nearly 30%, with an average of 818 calls received per day. On top of that are (on average) 1,861 101 calls and 349 e-contacts (messages sent via the website) with reports of 764 incidents per summer day.

However, this year the demand is even greater. The number of 999 calls is already frequently in excess of 1,000 a day with similarly high numbers of 101 calls.

Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Leaper said: ‘We’ve already had some busy weekends before the summer holidays started with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and the fine weather at the beginning of June attracting people to our countryside and coast. The Jubilee weekend alone saw us answer nearly 6,000 calls for service including 3,859 999 calls.

‘However, as the summer progresses, the demand on our service is reaching unprecedented levels.

‘I would like to thank the public for their patience as we know we can’t always answer calls as quickly as we’d like to.

‘We are working hard to meet the challenge. We have a fantastic, hard-working team in our contact centres, and we have recruited 107 new staff who are all at various stages of the recruitment and training process. Some have already started with us while others will be joining us later. We will continue building on this and increasing the team further, so recruitment will be opening again in the coming weeks.

‘We will also be rolling out a new IT system in the next few months which will offer greater flexibility including the option, in non-emergency situations, for a member of the public to ask us to call them back.’

In the meantime, there are things members of the public can do to reduce some of the demand police are getting which in turn allows officers and staff to respond quickly to emergencies.

ACC Nikki Leaper explains: ‘To help us manage over the busy period we’re asking for the public’s help in some key areas. First of all, if it’s a non-emergency matter, please contact us using the forms available on our website or consider using our WebChat facility to get updates. Both of these facilities are staffed by our hard-working contact officers – so any issue will be dealt with by the same team – but using these channels will save you time and will also keep the lines clear for members of our communities who, for various reasons, cannot contact us online.’

Another thing which the public can do to help reduce demand is not hang up in the event of a pocket dial or accidental 999 call. ACC Leaper explains: ‘Due to modern smart phones’ security features, accidental 999 calls are becoming increasingly common and can be time consuming to manage as people often hang up in embarrassment or fear of getting not trouble. When that happens our contact officers can spend up to half an hour each time trying to call the person back to check they’re OK. We estimate that around 10-15% of our 999 calls are accidental – which is a huge proportion.

‘In the event this happens to you – stay on the line to let the operator know you’re safe. You won’t get into trouble, and it can save us a lot of time in trying to track you down to call you back. The same goes for situations where you’ve witnesses an incident, called 999, but then notice officers have arrived on scene. Don’t hang up – stay on the line and let us know you’re OK.’

Finally, many calls the police receive are really more appropriately dealt with by other local agencies. ACC Leaper continues: ‘We do still get a lot of calls for things which are not police matters – such as poor parking, fly tipping or noise. We would only deal with any of these issues if they posed a risk to the public for example if the rubbish was dumped on a road, or the parked car was causing an obstruction. We also anticipate that, if the hose pipe ban comes in next week as planned, people will be calling us to report breaches. These issues would be dealt with by other agencies. There is a full list of these agencies on our website so please check online before you call us.’

Alison Hernandez, Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: ‘We need the public to do their bit to ensure they are reaching out to the correct service in the first place, and in the right way.

‘Both WebChat and online form responses are dealt with by trained contact officers – so any issue will be dealt with by the same team – but using these channels instead of calling saves you time and will keeps the lines clear for members of our communities who, for various reasons, cannot contact the force online or are distressed.

‘Many calls the police receive are really more appropriately dealt with by other local agencies. Poor parking, fly tipping or noise are examples of issues that councils are sometimes better placed to help with and you can save yourself time by going straight to them. And if you are being pushed from pillar to post then please contact your locally elected councillor who can better understand the problem and liaise with the right services on your behalf.

‘You can also visit your local police enquiry office to reduce demand on the contact centre. These are open in Truro, Camborne, Barnstaple, Newquay, Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth (Crownhill), St Austell, Bodmin and the Isles of Scilly. More are due to open in Falmouth, Newton Abbott, Penzance, Tiverton and Bude later this year. Addresses and opening times can be found online.’