Demand for action over delays in answering 999 calls in Shropshire
The number of West Mercia 999 calls answered within the target time of 10 seconds has fallen to its lowest figure for the past decade.
It has also emerged that the number of non-emergency 101 calls to police which have gone unanswered has doubled in the past 12 months.
John Campion, the region's police and crime commissioner says he will be meeting with West Mercia's chief constable, Anthony Bangham, before the end of the month to discuss the issue.
Figures have shown that the number of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds in July was 77.2 per cent, with a total of 11,529 calls making it the busiest month since June 2014.
It has also been revealed that for all public calls to West Mercia Police over the last 12 months the average wait increased from around 37 seconds in August 2015 to almost 1 minute 30 seconds in August 2016.
Mr Campion, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner, has described the performance on 101 calls as "unacceptable" and said he intends to hold the chief constable to account over the issue.
He said: "It's vital our communities can get in touch with the police when they need them. The police need to ensure their contact channels – including the 101 non-emergency and 999 emergency numbers – are responsive and accessible.
"We have seen unacceptable drops in performance in relation to the 101 service which need to be addressed. It's clear the staff in our call centres work extremely hard, so I am holding this session with the chief constable to ensure the processes, equipment and structures are in place to deliver better results for all of our communities."
The 101 performance shows that the number of calls abandoned has increased over the last year.
In April 2015 it was around seven per cent and in April 2016 it was nearly 12 per cent.
That pattern has continued since then and the most recent data shows that 14 per cent of calls in August 2016 were abandoned, compared with around approximately seven per cent in August last year.
Figures for the number of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds show that the overall percentage for 2016 is 80.56 so far.
The number is lower than any other year since 2015/16, with the lowest full year figure coming in 2015/16, with 84.38 per cent. The trend has seen a decline in the number answered within 10 seconds for the past three years.
