Contacting Metropolitan Police Control Rooms

peterbaker

I am becoming highly disillusioned by the system by which we, the members of the public, are expected to contact the police.

In my time I have made a number of reports of observations and incidents. I have used 999 for what I perceived as emergencies requiring immediate attention which has included apparent ongoing petty theft, a mobile phone mugging, a stabbing, and loud abusive behaviour late at night on two occasions, and I have used local numbers from Yellow Pages for more routine reports.

Last night I made a 999 call to report seeing a man in a building apparently using a rifle and telescopic sights for target practice inside the seventh or eighth floor of a large office building. Not the kind of thing you expect to see every Sunday night. The "New Scotland Yard" operator unbelievably said she was unable to find my address on their map. Luckily the officers she had initially despatched to see me were more able.

However, after my kids and I had entertained four police in my apartment for 5 or 10 minutes at gone half past ten last night, and after one of them had witnessed with me someone with a broom enter the floor and turn on all the lights again and begin to sweep up in the small area where I believe the target had been hung, the Police left quite quickly without
giving any real indication that they were taking my report seriously.

No one called me back after that, and my kids and I watched the building for another 45 minutes and saw no-one except a lone security man or cleaner who appeared for a minute or two and checked the area around the where the target had been hung.

Before we went to bed therefore, I tried http://www.newscotlandyard.gov.uk on the offchance of finding contact details for New Scotland Yard and on the front page found an email link. I emailed my concerns and went to bed.

By 1200 today I had still heard nothing more, so I called the number on the same website. It's nothing but a Press Bureau. They weren't interested. Yes they had got my email but I would need to contact the local control room and ask them, and could they please close the call now because people were waiting on their line, on press business I assume.

So reluctantly (because I have had almost no joy before when I have called the local numbers) I did so.

The call is answered immediately when you call one of those numbers in Yellow Pages, but that itself should not be impressive. You are talking to a civilian with limited skills and resources. A simple telephonist. Is it Limehouse you are trying to call? Yes Tower Hamlets if that's Limehouse. And what are you calling them about? I am following up a report I made last night. Pardon? What's that? A ... report ... I ... made ... last ... night. I ... am ... following ... it ... up. OK, putting you through to the control room ....

That's when the service really breaks down. I have been in this loop before.

You get a recorded message that says something like "You are in a queue for the Police Control Room. If it is an emergency dial 999. There will be silence between the end of this announcement and the next announcement" ..... and round it goes .....

You have to wait a long time (5 full minutes is typical, but I have waited for over 10 minutes before and hung up), and eventually the Control Room answers. I have a feeling that even at this point you are still speaking to a civilian.

"Police Control Room. Can I help you?" she said to me. Yes I made a report last night by 999 about seeing a rifleman in a building. I was wondering what happened about it. Do you know about that? "No". Don't you have a record of it?

"I came on duty at 0700 this morning, Sir. There's nothing here." But that's unbelievable, I made a report about ..... "If you want to find out more about it, Sir, you'll need to speak to the officers who dealt with it. They'll be in on Friday."

After some prompting she found a report. There was a note from one of the officers about having arrived at my apartment and witnessing a man with a broom sweeping up. They had spoken to seurity in the building and they had said they had heard no report of any shots being fired. It appeared the matter had been completed and closed.

I asked did that mean they think I mistook a broom for a rifle? The answer was something like "...possibly, and you would have to speak to the officers concerned".

I told the control room again what I had seen and she agreed in the end to get "The Duty Officer" to call me. She said something about the duty officer maybe knowing more about it than she would.

So I am waiting for a call, but for the life of me, I don't think anyone has taken my report seriously.

My kids aged 9 and 11 were here throughout and they could not understand why nothing happened after the Police left.

What would any reasonable member of the public do next in this situation? Forget it? What should I teach the kids from this experience?

16011996

thats terrible. don't know what you can do, but that is awful.

peterbaker

UPDATE: Well I am pleased to report that a "proper" policeman has called me now and I feel a lot happier.

16011996

am glad, hope you get it sorted.

Poppy9

If you dial 999 to report anything they have to create an incident. Before you finish your call ask for the incident number. Each officer is required to call in to update incidents - even if they are closing it. You can then simply ring and ask for the outcome of an incident.

I was verbally abused by a member of the public who pulled out of a parking space in front of me - jammed on his brakes so I missed him by inches and then he proceed to swear at me (even though he could see a child in the seat next to me). I picked up my phone and called the police as he was ranting and he shouted they won't find me cos the cars not registered and drove off. Within 15 minutes an officer had been allocated. She rang me and asked if I wished to make a formal complaint. She had already deteremined the car was not registered locally but had requested an officer in another division visit the reg.keeper to find out who was driving the car. Pretty efficent I think.

peterbaker

Yeah - very much depends on the individuals involved I think, but the system is bad for both the public and the "real" police. The officer who called me back was lamenting that they have to use pretty much the same system as we the public to "call in" about non-emergency matters and they sometimes have to wait up to half an hour to make their report (their "update"?).