EMERGENCY call handlers will now instantly know if a member of the public is vulnerable or in potential danger as Police Scotland introduces a new national system to manage 999s.
The system will enable police staff to immediately identify the nearest officer nationwide and tell via the caller’s history if, for example, they are a repeated victim of domestic abuse or suffer health issues.
It will allow the force to know straight away if there have been previous instances of violence associated with a particular number, meaning it can send appropriate resources and gauge the threat to officers.
Read more: Police officer saved life of woman colleague in Glasgow hit-and-run murder bid
Police Scotland also said breaking the geographic structures of call handling would assist the force at times of pressure such as Hogmanay or during a major incident when phone lines to one particular area may be jammed.
But the body which represents the overwhelming majority of rank and file officers said an understaffing within police call handling remained.
The system replaces that used by the previous eight regional services, including the troubled Lothian and Borders 999 hub at Bilston Glen where problems led to the M9 tragedy last year.
Lamara Bell, 25, and her boyfriend, John Yuill, 28, lay undiscovered in their car for three days after officers failed to respond to reports of the crash, sparking criticism that the ‘single force’, created just two years before, was failing operationally.
A scathing report on police call-handling published following the deaths in July 2015 included 30 recommendations for Police Scotland.
The call handling system changes were already underway before the probe but the force said it had taken on board recommendations over scrutiny and reassurances when putting the new scheme into practice.
Read more: Police officer saved life of woman colleague in Glasgow hit-and-run murder bid
Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins will update his force’s governing body, the Scottish Police Authority, later this week on the new system, which will bring the call rooms in the east and west of the country together next month.
Writing in today’s Herald, ACC Hawkins said: “We recognise that how we handle calls is a matter of real public interest and that our programme of change has received its fair share of criticism, some of which has been justified.
“The introduction of a national customer relationship management system will allow us, for the first time, to see any previous contact callers have had with us right across Scotland. We will be able to identify any threats or vulnerabilities, for example, where there has been a history of domestic abuse, and prioritise the police response effectively and consistently.”
The force receives over 3.5 million calls from the public every year, the equivalent of one call every nine seconds.
As part of the overall project to modernise its call-handling systems the closure of Police Scotland’s northern control rooms has been delayed until next year, having been expected to shut by the end of 2016.
Read more: Police officer saved life of woman colleague in Glasgow hit-and-run murder bid
Calum Steele, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “At long last the service is responding to our series of concerns around the vulnerability of call handling. But we still believe there is an understaffing within call handling and the contact centres which needs addressed to give the public a service which is more than a call centre service.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We recognise the critical importance of 999 and 101 for our communities and there will be no change to the way the public contact Police Scotland. They will still call 101 and 999. They will receive the same service delivered by a local officer or a specialist officer if required.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel