South Yorkshire Police 29th in the country for answering 999 calls

By David Walsh
Published 26th Jun 2023, 13:15 BST
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South Yorkshire Police has been placed 29th out of 44 in a table showing the time it takes police forces to answer emergency calls.

The force took an average of 11.5 seconds to pick up the phone over the past year, placing it 29th out of 44 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This compares well with the fastest force, North Wales Police, which picked up the phone less than four seconds faster, on average, in 7.78 seconds.

In the study period, South Yorkshire received 276,035 calls, more than double that of North Wales, which received 107,099. Bedfordshire Police took the longest time to answer its calls, with an average of 36.10 seconds from 122,922 calls.

The figures are from police.co.uk, the national website for policing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the research was by claims.co.uk. The time period was May 2022 to April 2023.

The force took an average of 11.5 seconds to pick up 999 calls over the past year, placing it 29th out of 44 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.The force took an average of 11.5 seconds to pick up 999 calls over the past year, placing it 29th out of 44 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The force took an average of 11.5 seconds to pick up 999 calls over the past year, placing it 29th out of 44 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A representative from claims.co.uk said: “Thousands of emergency calls are made each year. This research offers a fascinating insight into how quickly every UK police department answers.”

Gloucestershire Constabulary had the fewest calls and was second slowest at answering. The Metropolitan Police Service in London had the most calls and was third slowest, taking 25.47 seconds to answer, on average, based on 2,102,289 calls.

With an average of 24.9 seconds taken to answer an emergency call, Devon and Cornwall Police ranked fourth slowest.

West Midlands Police was fifth slowest. Suffolk Constabulary ranked sixth slowest with an average emergency calls answer time of 22.39.