UK Legal Newswire
A milestone in the development of London’s policing was achieved yesterday. As part of the Met’s biggest change programme, handling of the Capital’s 999 and non-999 calls to the police has been transferred from 32 separate Borough control rooms to three purpose built sites.
For the last two years, the management of the Capital’s twelve million calls to the police has been moving into sites specifically designed for the work. When Richmond and Kingston transferred their calls to a site in Lambeth, the process was complete.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ron McPherson said
“The new way of doing business means a better service for the public and more effective use of police officers, It is essential that we can get the right people to the right place at the right time with the right information. Transferring our call handling function to purpose-built sites is just one part of the project, but it is vitally important.
The officers and staff on the Borough have risen to the challenge, getting the job done 24/7, while major change was happening in the background. Because of this, we now have the capacity to continue handle rising demand effectively and flexibly for the foreseeable future. We are using all of our police officers and police staff engaged in the 999 call and despatching service much more efficiently. I am delighted that the public have had no reason to notice the changes taking place – and I think it is the best possible testament to the officers and staff involved.”
Emergency and non-emergency callers from the Richmond and Kingston area will now have their calls answered by operators in Lambeth. With the aid of sophisticated mapping technology, information management systems and mobile data technology they will link directly with specific officers in the local area to despatch a response. Officers and staff in the local stations will get all the information simultaneously, and will add additional local detail where known. The information can be sent direct to officers on the street electronically right into their cars. This means that officers attending 999 calls will have detailed, up to date information about any incident before arriving on scene, and operators are freed up to take more 999 calls from the public.
The locally based Integrated Borough Operations work round the clock 24/7 to:
Provide information for borough briefings
Ensure sufficient resources are available for deployment
Provide an overview of all operational activities on the Borough
These new developments mean Richmond, Kingston – and all the other London boroughs will be providing vital local intelligence to officers, as well as having an overview of all the borough’s police units: where resources are not required at incidents, they can be targeted at local policing priorities, through initiatives such as Safer Neighbourhoods.
Reshard Auladin, deputy chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said
“The drive for modernisation, together with the necessity to improve the quality of contact for Londoners, has been the whole purpose of the C3i programme and the MPA has been fully involved in the planning and instigation of this vital project.
Following the dramatic increase in calls for assistance received by the MPS over recent years, projected to reach 23 million annually by 2010, there has also been an urgent business case to improve capacity and to ensure resources are directed effectively. The end result will mean the MPS has an even greater ability to prioritise emergencies and direct resources more effectively.”
END
For more information about the C3i programme please contact the MPS press office on 020 7230 2171.
Notes
Background information
C3i is a key MPS modernisation programme, enabling the organisation to provide truly 21st Century, citizen-focused policing services to people in London. Call handling services at 32 Boroughs (including Westminster) have now migrated into the three CCC centres.
This approach aims to enable the MPS to:
modernise and improve the MPS’ communications service to the public;
support officers with better information, smarter deployment and improved officer safety;
optimise resources, bringing together people, technology, process and information.
The Programme has been developed in response to the need to ensure the Met has the capacity and flexibility to respond to the growing number of calls for assistance from the people of London, which, in line with the projected growth in the population of the capital, is expected to grow to 23 million contacts by phone and e-mail by 2010.
The infrastructure being delivered through this programme will link and support other key programmes such as Safer Neighbourhoods and the new Effective Patrolling policy to create a more responsive and dynamic policing service for the nation’s capital.
By the end of 2007, all control rooms currently housed in London’s boroughs that receive and respond to emergency and non-emergency 999 calls to the MPS, will have migrated into three specially-constructed buildings located in Lambeth, Hendon and Bow, forming a new Operational Command Unit – Central Communications Command (CCC).
Each of these buildings will house specially-trained staff who will be supported by a range of technologies developed to enhance call handling performance allowing more information to be gathered and passed onto officers responding to incidents.
On borough new Integrated Borough Operation functions are also being introduced. These IBOs are providing fast time intelligence and risk assesment support to officers on the streets and managing and co-ordinating the boroughs resources more effectively in terms of planning and allocation to crime prevention programmes
Equipping officers with more information prior to arriving at an incident can help in the effective management of a situation. Increased and enhanced information will also enable more effective decision-making on resource management on borough
