Suffolk Police has ranked fifth slowest in the UK for the time taken to respond to calls, according to data from the national policing website, Police.uk.

The county’s force had an average call response time of 17 seconds.

Just three of the 12 months examined between March 2023 to February 2024 have a mean answer time of under ten seconds. 

Claims.co.uk gathered the data on the average time it takes for a call to be transferred to each police force in the UK from March 2023 to February 2024; the mean answer time for each month was weighted to calculate the final average and determine the ranking. 

However, the neighbouring county of Norfolk has the second fastest response time at 7.16 seconds while Lincolnshire is the fastest with a time of just 7 seconds.

The slowest was Bedfordshire Police at 30.33 seconds.

Suffolk Police Chief Inspector Shawn Wakeling said: “We know how important it is to answer a call as quickly as possible and, to enhance our performance in responding to the public, we have been undertaking a long-term transformation within our Contact and Control Room (CCR).

“This has been achieved largely by the investment from the council tax precept in 2022/23 which facilitated the recruitment of an additional 27 call takers and four police officers.

He added: “Figures from October 2023 to March 2024 date show that 90% of 999 calls were consistently answered within the national performance target of 10 seconds and we continue to work to improve our performance month on month.

“In addition to our staff uplift, we have also made changes to our internal policies and processes to improve efficiencies to our call handling to both our emergency and non-emergency response, and last month we introduced a digital desk within the CCR to improve our online communication to non-emergency enquiries that are made via our website and social media.

“We know that there are still improvements to make in our performance in how we respond to the public and we are constantly looking at ways in which to improve our service. We also work closely with His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service (HMICFRS) which evaluates our progress.”