WEST Mercia Police have put together a game to see how good people would be working in their emergency control room.
‘Make the Right Call’ presents people with genuine 999 and 101 police calls and asks them to make a decision on what to do – whether to take no action, deploy officers, enlist the help of a partner agency or resolve it on the phone.
Players have just ten officers available in the allocated time limit and to ‘win’ need to make the right decisions.
Some of the real life examples used are also not an emergency or a police matter – including asking for a lift, complaining about a banana-stealing housemate and a restaurant bill being too high.
Ch Insp Gareth Morgan, who is head of the force’s control room, said: “We hope this game will be an interactive way for people to get an appreciation of how fast-paced our control room is and the daily pressures our staff and officers are under.
“The choices we make are not always easy but we make decisions based on the risk to the public. Every unnecessary call we receive places significant pressure on our resources and could lead to someone not getting the help they genuinely need.
“We hope people will enjoy playing the game and at the same time recognise when it’s appropriate to dial 999, what is and isn’t a police matter and which issues should be directed to our partners.”
To help people contact the right service first time, there are a number of pages and downloadable leaflets on our website which advise who the best agency is to speak to on issues including fly-tipping, noise complaints and parking.
Click this link to play the game – www.westmercia.police.uk/maketherightcall
Residents should only call 999 if you are in immediate danger or need to report a crime or incident that requires an emergency response.
They should call 101 to report a crime that has already happened, talk with police about an ongoing case or let them know about policing issues in your local area.
