New data reveals Derbyshire Police ranked as second slowest force in the UK for 999 call response times

Research conducted by people search engine, Radaris, analyses the most recent data from the month of October 2023 to determine how long UK police forces take to answer emergency phone calls.

Their data has revealed the number of calls and the percentage of those answered in under 10 seconds – and shows that Derbyshire Police was the second slowest force in the country.

Out of 12,911 total calls that Derbyshire Police received, 9,748 were answered within under 10 seconds – a rate of 75.5 per cent.

Out of 45 forces recorded, Derbyshire was number 44 – with only Dorset Police registering a lower figure for calls answered within under 10 seconds.

But a Derbyshire Police spokesperson said that the force’s performance had improved between 2022 and 2023.

They said: “Our dedicated call-handlers work tirelessly to provide the right support and advice to members of the public at a time when they need us, and we continue to do all we can to make sure we answer emergency calls as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“National measures show that we have improved in the last two years, going from an average of 59.7 percent of calls answered within 10 seconds in 2022, to an average of 72.6 percent in 2023. For overall 999 ring times, Derbyshire are in the top six nationally for answering calls, averaging at 8.5 seconds.

“We continually monitor demand and performance to ensure emergency calls are answered as quickly as possible. In the last 12 months, 94.4 percent of 999 calls received into the Force Control Room were answered within 60 seconds, and answer times have been improving year on year over the past three years, making us one of the top performing police forces in this area.”

The force spokesperson added: “However, there is still work to do in Derbyshire, and we are striving to make further significant improvements by investing in technology which will allow calls to be routed straight to the call taker, which we believe will allow for quicker response times.

READ THIS: Fixing Derbyshire potholes is ‘huge task’ says MP as some roads in ‘unacceptable’ condition

“As a force we are continuing to work hard to ensure demand is managed effectively and appropriately. Our call handlers adapt their work to prioritise calls according to demand to make sure our abandonment rate for 999 calls remains incredibly low.

“We also introduced a range of alternatives for non-emergencies, including online reporting and direct messaging through Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) to help us to make sure we can prioritise the answering of emergency calls as quickly and efficiently as possible.”