Former police officer wants 101 calls brought back under local control
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A plea has been made for non-emergency phone calls to the police to be brought back under local control after it emerged 20,000 calls to the 101 call centre from the Highlands went unanswered last year.
Matthew Reiss, a retired police officer and Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor, made the suggestion at the most recent meeting of the Thurso Community Council. He said he had to wait for over 20 minutes to get through to the 101 centre on one occasion.
"They should bring back local control of the service. Twenty thousand abandoned calls is a lot of dissatisfied customers, although I accept it is very difficult for the staff," he said.
Community councillor Iain Gregory, also a former police officer, agreed and said the service should be reviewed. He argued that when people make a call to the police they want to speak to a local officer, while Gill Arrowsmith described the number of unanswered calls as "absolute madness".
Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Ron Gunn said the high number of abandoned calls had been mentioned by the new police divisional commander, Chief Superintendent Rob Shepherd, at a meeting of the Highland Council’s communities and place committee.
The figure relates to the number of 101 phone calls last year from the north area which went unanswered for one reason or another, stated councillor Gunn.
Figures released by Police Scotland revealed that nationally 216,979 calls to the non-emergency number were abandoned between January and July 2022 – an average of almost 31,000 a month.
A total of 876,144 calls were received in the seven-month period. The 101 service is a non-emergency number for the police and allows the public to report a crime but it has been criticised for slow response times and lack of local knowledge.
Cllr Gunn also said the new police chief indicated there would be an ongoing review of policing in Caithness and acknowledged concerns which have been raised about speeding vehicles in the far north, including Castletown and Thurso.
The councillor noted it takes 30 officers to man an armed response team 24/7 and said Ch Supt Shepherd is keen to get more police to undertake taser training and wants to come up and meet with community groups.
Ch Supt Shepherd, who moved to the Highlands from the Metropolitan Police, acknowledged that public confidence in Police Scotland is low, at just 39 per cent in the latest survey, but stressed that confidence tends to lag behind reality.
Meanwhile, Sgt Stephen Todd told the community councillors that Thurso police dealt with 125 calls in the area during February. They included 11 concern for person calls, 27 for assistance and 11 relating to mental health issues.
Cllr Reiss said: "That is a total of 49 calls for assistance to the public and shows what the police have to do."
