Police delay inanswering calls

Members of the public have been experiencing delays when contacting Sussex Police on the 101 non emergency number. Sussex Police Contact Centre staff have been unable to answer the calls as promptly as usual due to the embedding of a new IT system and an unusually high volume of calls due to the busy summer period.

The situation is being addressed through an increase in staffing levels.

A police spokesman said: “We apologise for any delays experienced by callers and thank them for their patience and understanding. Please be assured that the 101 number is charged at a fixed rate of 15p for the entire duration of the call.

“We would ask the public to continue to report any issues using the 101 number, however there are other ways to make contact with Sussex Police. Please make use of our website and email, where appropriate. A number of crimes can be reported online at www.sussex.police.com including Anti-social behaviour, theft, anti-social or dangerous driving, lost and found property and many others. The public can get advice and general information using the new help centre tool on the Sussex Police website.

If a call doesn’t require an immediate response, or the caller is prepared to wait 24 hours for a response, they can email the contact centre at [email protected]. There is no impact to the response times for answering 999 calls, and Sussex Police remain one of the top performing forces in the country for its emergency calls.