Police improve 999 call answering times - report

Emergency 999 calls in Devon and Cornwall are being answered more quickly, a report says.

Calls to the force took an average of six seconds to be answered in October, compared with an average of 31 seconds in October 2022.

Devon and Cornwall Police were ranked 38th out of 44 forces that month, where 1st is best performing, and dropped to 41st one month later in November 2022, said a report to the Police and Crime Panel.

Since then, answering times have shown a gradual improvement and in August 2023 the Devon and Cornwall force was ranked as the best-performing force in the UK, with 88% of calls answered within 10 seconds.

Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez told the panel that answering times had dropped as 999 calls had "dramatically increased".

"We keep going up and down the league table, but we're talking about seconds, literally, on that league table," she said.

"It's a matter of seconds of difference in performance, not minutes or hours.

"So 999 has been a real success in terms of being able to answer those calls much quicker."

Ms Hernandez said she "particularly welcomed" the introduction of callbacks to the public who call the police on the 101 non-emergency service.

"People are taking up that service and it's working really well," she said.

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