WEST Midlands Police answered calls more quickly than any other police force in the country last month – with an average time to answer of just two seconds.
All forces publish their 999 performance and on this measure alone West Midlands Police was the fastest force at answering 999 calls.
Last month, the force received 66,520 emergency 999 calls, answered on average in two seconds.
In recent years, the force has gone from one of the worst-performing forces in the UK for call handling to one of the best.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “Good call handling is key to delivering good investigations.
“Not only are we answering calls quicker, we’re arriving at incidents sooner, arresting more people and seeing improved outcomes in all areas.
“So much of policing is built from the basics of answering the phone, getting officers to the scene and solving crime.
“So it is right that we acknowledge the brilliant feat of answering 999 calls the quickest in the country.”
In addition to the speedy call handling times, the force says the average time to get officers to emergencies is around 10 minutes.
