Police Scotland 101 system 'not ideal', says inspector

Inspector Stuart Dougan said Police Scotland were looking at new technologies to make it easier, and quicker for members of the public to pass on information - alongside improving the existing phone system.

His comments came after members of the public raised concerns earlier this year amid reports of 50-minute waits to report local crimes - with residents complaining that by the time they get through to report an incident, it is sometimes already over.

Members of Largs Community Council (LCC) had also raised concern that the 101 police button intercom system at the town's police station has not been working over recent months. 

'101' concerns - Jamie Black says it is unacceptable having to wait 50 minutes to get through to a police officer (Image: Newsquest)

Inspector Dougan told LCC the 101 button at the Brooksby entrance has now been fixed and can be used by the public for reporting crime.

He said weekend demand for the 101 call centre system - introduced in Scotland in 2013, and whose call handlers for Scotland are based in Govan - was always high, and pointed out it had been high again over recent days due to the bad weather of Storm Babet.

He pointed out issues where there was an 'immediate risk to life' always take priority.

He said: "At present police are looking at new technologies in terms of contacting the police.

"I think that everyone can agree that the 101 system is not ideal, and something we want to get better with.

"It is a national system and we will feed in local concerns regarding its use.

"The 999 call is the emergency phone number, and you will get an immediate response from the emergency services, who will then assess it.

"In terms of crimes which are non emergency related, we are looking at ways how people engage with the police.

"The majority of young people use WhatsApp and other mobile phone communications, so we are looking at that, but we are aware that that may not be suitable for everyone.

"But overall, it is something we are actively looking into.

"We have little influence on the national 101 system, other than we can feed back into the system the views that we are given from yourselves.

"The 101 button at Brooksby for members of the public has been fixed."

However, it was pointed out at the meeting that members of the public can sometimes see police working in the building - but the 101 intercom doesn't put them through to an officer in the building.

LCC chairman Jim Phillips said: "I think it is misleading, as we have had a few members of the public complaining that they have used the 101 button at Brooksby and can see police officers upstairs - but they are not answering phones or attending to them."

Inspector Dougan explained that was indeed the case, as police may be investigating something at that particular time and were unavailable.

He said: "I don't think it is misleading, because the officers might be doing other things.

"They have radio walkie-talkies and PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), which we all carry, so maybe it is something we look at to put up better signage that it goes through to our contact and control centre."

Community councillor Jamie Black said: "The sign outside the police office should really say 'this is a police station but you can't contact a police officer'.

"We have these police offices but you can't contact a police officer in the building." 

But Inspector Dougan pointed out: "You will contact a police officer, it just won't be local.

"We don't want to be misleading in terms of that; you will still speak to a police officer but it won't be ten yards away."

Mr Black responded: "When it is a 50 minute wait. it was frustrating. as it wasn't an emergency but it was causing a lot of disturbance to local people and it happened at 11pm."