At the beginning of the summer period Wiltshire Police posed a simple question: “Should you click, or should you call?”
Every year almost 100,000 calls to the emergency 999 phone lines are received. However, not all of these calls are urgent or an emergency meaning they should not have come in via 999.
Each summer there is typically an increase in demand. Good weather, easing of Covid restrictions, school holidays, the Euros, bank holidays and local events all add to the demands placed upon the police service and usually result in an increase in calls to 999 and 101, especially in the evenings and at the weekends.
In order to help protect the police’s resources, so that they are dealing with the right type of demand, they have been asking people to start online and visit the website first to resolve their issue before picking up the phone.
Assistant Chief Constable Deb Smith said, “As an emergency service we are always going to be in high demand, however we know that not every call is an emergency, a report of crime or even something the Police should be dealing with.
“Over the summer we have asked that before you call you consider if you can access the information you need or make a report using our website.”
The challenges of demand are not just restricted to Wiltshire Police, but are experienced by all police forces. Nationally the August bank holiday weekend saw police call centres across the country experience extreme levels of calls.
ACC Smith added, “I would like to say thank you to those of you who have already made the change to start online.
“Between 1 June 2021 and 31 August 2021, we have had 81,202 visits to our website from 50,302 people, who have looked at 265,182 pages.
“In the last three months 6725 forms have been completed using the website. That could have been 6725 additional calls to 999 or 101.
“By going online you can free up our specialist call handlers and keep our phone lines open so we can deal with the immediate threats to life, immediate risk and crimes in progress.
“We need more people to keep making this change and start online if your call isn’t urgent or a crime isn’t in progress.
“In no way do we want to discourage our communities from reaching out to us if they need our help, but it is important to remember that 999 is an emergency number and there are other non-emergency options.”
The summer may be coming to an end but Click or Call is here to stay. A new website introduced earlier this year offers a more modern approach to accessing information, getting in touch and reporting crime.
You have the power to help reduce demand where it’s needed the most. If your question or report is not urgent, before you call 101 or 999 please start online.
Visit www.wiltshire.police.uk for more information.
‘Click or Call? Save our time. It’s your call.’
