John Campion has had assurances from West Mercia Police that they are making improvements to the 101 and emergency 999 services.
The Commissioner recently held a holding to account meeting with the Chief Constable, specifically about the police’s phone services following an unacceptable drop in performance. He was pleased and reassured to hear that following intervention from the Commissioner, performance is improving and the force is working hard to resolve issues as quickly as possible.
A number of immediate improvements include the delegation of non-urgent tasks to other departments, increased supervision and training and ongoing recruitment of staff. Long term changes to technology as part of a project to build a new Operations Communications Centre will bring further improvements.
John Campion said “Our communities need to be able to contact the police when they need their help. Feedback I’ve had from our communities has been clear that these services have not been meeting their needs. I have taken up that issue on their behalf with the Chief Constable and improvements are already being delivered.”
“There is no question that the force’s call handlers are very hard working and professional. I want to make sure they can achieve the best performance for our community. Having raised this issue, I am very encouraged with the response I have had from the Chief Constable and his commitment to improving performance – particularly around the 999 emergency channel. I will continue to monitor this issue on behalf of our communities to ensure those improvements happen.”
Issued: Thursday 3rd November