PEOPLE are urged to report non-urgent police matters online rather than by calling 101 as a large number of West Mercia’s control room staff are self-isolating with Coronavirus.
It has led to the call handlers who are working and naturally prioritise 999 emergency calls to have less time to answer 101 calls.
Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones: “We have a dedicated team triaging all online reports and they are serviced in the exact same way as they would be if made via 101.”
999 service continues as usual.
ACC Jones added: “We are prepared for a proportion of our workforce becoming ill or self-isolating and are taking precautions to minimise the spread of infection within the organisation.
“Robust contingency plans have been prepared to ensure that, no matter what, we are able to carry on providing critical policing services to all of our communities across Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire.
“As part of this we are currently working with Public Health England (PHE) Midlands to ensure we have all the right measures in place to protect our staff and to reduce the need for people to self-isolate.
“Throughout the country’s response to the global pandemic, police officers and staff have remained steadfast and dedicated to serving our communities, playing our part in minimising the spread of the virus through positive engagement and, where needed, enforcement of the regulations.”
Among the issues people can report at westmercia.police.uk are anti-social behaviour, crimes such as stole property and criminal damage, Covid-19 breaches, lost and found property and road crashes – unless they are serious where immediate action is needed.
