Cambridgeshire Police Force has one of the slowest response times for answering 999 calls
Cambridgeshire Police Force says it is working 'hard' to effectively manage the way it answers 999 calls after a study found it had one of the slowest response times in the country. The study carried out by people search engine, Radaris[1], analysed the most recent data from the month of November to determine how long UK police forces take to answer emergency calls. Greater Manchester came out on top with the quickest response time answering 93.9% of calls in under 10 seconds - just pipping Gwent Police to the top spot.
The study looked at all 45 forces - in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and ranked them on the percentage of calls answered in under 10 seconds.
Cambridgeshire came out in 42 spot with a total of 11,797 999 calls received in November and only 76.8% - or 9,060 - being answered in the under 10 seconds time frame.
Only Wiltshire, Derbyshire and Dorset forces were slower. Dorset ranking 45th taking 9,880 999 calls during the month and only 75.1% of them being answered in under 10 seconds. Cambridgeshire's neighbours Lincolnshire was the best performing force in our area coming in at fifth spot.
The force received 8,576 calls to its emergency line and just under 92% were answered within 10 seconds. Norfolk was rated 12th answering 89.2% of the 9,947 999 calls in the time frame. Bedfordshire was ranked 19th and Hertfordshire was in 33rd spot.
A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "999 demand is subject to seasonal peaks.
Our call-handlers work tirelessly to provide the right support and advice in someone's time of need, and we continue to do all we can to make sure we answer emergency calls as quickly and efficiently as possible.
"The force is working hard to ensure incoming demand is managed effectively and accordingly, this includes developing a range of alternatives for non-emergencies, such as webchat and online crime and incident reporting options."