Police failing to answer non-emergency calls, statistics reveal

Date: 21/12/2011

Cost cutting measures have led to thousands of calls to non-emergency local numbers going unanswered by Cambridgeshire police.

This is according to new figures reported in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, which showed 8,000 people hung up before getting through to an operator in June and July.

The high number is said to coincide with the force's move to reduce the number of employees answering phones and filtering calls to relevant departments.

Speaking after Cambridgeshire Police Authority's board meeting last week, councillor Matthew Lee stated: "The numbers of abandoned calls are too high and it needs to be reduced.

"You will always get some calls abandoned but it is clear the amount has increased substantially."

According to the news source, police are expected to answer non-emergency calls within 30 seconds.

Companies keen to track their calls may want to consider investing in call statistics software, which helps firms monitor the most popular times of inbound calls and handling efficiency.