Police response policy

Staff in our Force Operations Room (FOR) handle both incoming emergency and non-emergency calls as well as co-ordinating the response to incidents via the police radio system. 

We take all calls seriously but have to make decisions about how we respond to them based on the information we are given.  So, your call will initially be graded between 1 and 5 and may change as we receive more information.

Grade 1 – Immediate Response
Our target is to get the nearest suitable resource(s) to the incident within 15 minutes of dispatch.

Grade 2 – Priority Response
We aim to arrive within 30 minutes of the initial call, but certainly within 60 minutes.

Grade 3 – Non-Urgent Response
While we will endeavour to deal with a non-urgent response as soon as we can, our target is within 48 hours.

Grade 4 – Scheduled Response
The incident is suitable for an appointment, which we will agree with you. Appointments are usually within 48 hours of the initial call.

Grade 5 – Non-attendance
We are able to resolve many calls over the telephone by giving advice.