GMP top of the national leader board for 999 call answer times

Friday, 17 March 2023 09:50

By David Murphy

Greater Manchester Police is now the number one force in the country for answering emergency calls.

The latest national call answering times league table, for February 2023, shows GMP above all 43 other police forces in England and Wales.

This represents a remarkable turnaround for GMP, who were sitting second from bottom in the table 18 months ago.

The average speed of answering 999 emergency calls in GMP’s Force Contact, Crime and Operations Centre (FCCO) is now just four seconds, and one week in February, the FCCO achieved the record-breaking feat of answering 999 calls in the average time of under one second.

Since June 2021 a raft of improvements have been made in the level of service provided to members of the public in their hour of need by the FCCO.

The climb to the top of the national table is due to new leadership, better use of technology, continued investment into the FCCO, and the 1,280 hardworking call handlers, radio dispatchers, crime recorders and Force Operations workers who answer and respond to calls for service.

They record and resolve crime reports and protect and safeguard the communities of Greater Manchester 24 hours a day.

All of this has been achieved whilst being one of the largest and busiest police forces in the country, which sees the contact management team respond to two million calls a year, answering on average 1,700 999 calls per day.

Chief Superintendent Chris Gibson, of GMP’s FCCO, said: “I think that we can be incredibly proud of our achievements over the past 18 months, but most notably our performance in February 2022, which sees us now top the national league table for speed of emergency calls answered.

“We have made a commitment to the people of Greater Manchester to swiftly respond to incidents and emergencies, and this achievement shows that we are doing exactly that.

“I would like to thank everyone involved with the FCCO for their hard work and determination to provide a better service for our communities and the people who need it most.

“While this is a fantastic achievement, it is just the start. Here at GMP we will continue to strive for excellence across the board.”