New survey aims to help shape the future of reporting crime

Organised by the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), it will explore people’s understanding of emergency and non-emergency reporting systems, as well as newly emerging ways of contacting the police, such as web chat, online forms and messaging over social media.

The APCC says reporting to 101 and 999 remains a “challenging area” for the police and the survey will help inform forces, the Home Office and local police and crime commissioners (PCCs) on any hurdles around reporting to the police and assist in forming plans for the future.

The Police Contact Survey opened today (May 18) and runs until midnight on Sunday, June 26.

APCC local policing leads, Alison Hernandez and Jeff Cuthbert, said: “Reporting to 101 and 999 remains a challenging area of business for police forces. The needs of those making contact must be understood and forces must prioritise those most in need, meaning contact about routine items is sometimes not responded to as quickly as people would like.

“In addition, new technology deployed by some forces presents significant opportunities to speed up responses and open lines of communication with people who might not be comfortable using traditional methods.

“As the voice of the public in policing, PCCs are very keen to better understand their constituents’ views on these issues and will be urging as many people as possible to respond to the survey.”

Staffordshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner Ben Adams added: “When people call the police, they expect their calls to be answered quickly, for the police to respond rapidly, and for them to deal effectively with problems in their area.

“The results of this survey will be important in understanding the needs of those contacting the police.”

The survey can be found at  https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/CrimeReporting-National-Public-Contact-Survey-APCC/