Police say they have recruited 30 new control room staff as they look to tackle challenges of increasing demand for their services.
Staffordshire Police said the posts had come in the wake of two record-breaking days in May in terms of the number of reports received.
Chief Constable Chris Noble said that despite the challenges, average answer times for 999 calls had improved.
“Our contact centre is one of the most important functions of our service and the main contact point between our communities and frontline officers in times of emergency.
“We’ve been undertaking a significant amount of hard work to improve our contact performance over the last 12 months in order to keep up with ever increasing demand, but we also recognise that we have to improve and invest effectively if we want to provide the best possible service to victims.
“This investment is a crucial step in the right direction and means that we will have extra staff available during the busiest summer peak in demand.
“We are pleased to be investing in this function and continuing to make improvements to both the service we provide to victims and the resources available to the communities we proudly serve.”
Chief Constable Chris Noble, Staffordshire Police
Staffordshire Police said it had also introduced measures such as triage function – which sees experienced officers signpost callers – to tackle increasing demand for 101 services
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams said:
“When people call the police, they expect their calls to be answered quickly and for the police to be able to deal effectively with their issues, which is why improving contact is an absolute priority in my police and crime plan.
“The additional council tax contributed by households across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent this year is enabling investment in additional specialist call handlers to further expand the contact centre.”
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams
