1. Procedural justice in police non-emergency call centres
Dr Andrew Stafford
Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Gloucestershire

2. Contact with the police through the non-emergency call centre
Contact with the police influences public confidence, trust and perceptions of police legitimacy.
The police in England and Wales receive 80 million calls a year for assistance from the general public (HMIC 2007)
‘[t]he majority of the public make their initial contact with the police through the telephony system, and first impressions count’ (Povey 2001, p. 154).
Contacting the police to report a crime is the most common reason for contacting the police (Allen et al. 2006)
So called ‘non-crime demand’ constitutes around four-fifths of all calls for police service (NAO 2015)
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Beyond the call: a thematic inspection of police contact
centres’ contribution to incident management. London: HMIC.
Povey, K., Open all hours: a thematic inspection report on the role of police visibility and
accessibility in public reassurance. London: HMIC.
Allen, J., et al Policing and the criminal justice system. public confidence and perceptions: findings from the 2004/05 British crime survey. London: Home Office.
National Audit Office (NAO) (2015) Financial Sustainability of Police Forces in England and Wales. London:
NAO.

3. astafford1@glos.ac.uk Twitter: @Andrewbstafford
The study
Qualitative triangulated examination of:
Police call-handling and reporting process at a police constabulary in England.
the content of non-emergency calls to this constabulary.
what was recorded and how calls were responded to.
To identify:
What matters to callers.
Determinants of satisfaction during contact with the police, particularly concerning the impact of police systems and processes.
How procedural justice arguments concerning ‘process’ and ‘outcome’ apply in this context.

4. Overview of data Database of 800 calls, showing duration and purpose
Transcripts of 70 non-emergency calls to the police
Interviews with the 70 members of the public who made these calls
30 interviews with the police call-handlers who dealt with some of these calls
20 interviews with the police officers who responded to some of these calls
10 interviews with call centre supervisors and senior managers in the Communications department
Transcripts of crime reports for 50 of the calls in the sample

5. Which parts of the process were important?
The police had a performance target that all non-emergency calls should be answered in 40 seconds.
‘We don’t reach performance targets [of answering calls in under 40 seconds] probably ever now’ (quote from call centre supervisor).
Despite many calls not being answered within 40 seconds, callers did not find this period of waiting particularly memorable or important when describing their experience of contacting the police.

6. Which parts of the process were important?
The empathy, understanding, interest, sensitivity, politeness and willingness to engage in small talk displayed by call-handlers was most memorable for callers, and was often recalled verbatim.
The most helpful elements of calls were often described as call- handler tone of voice, sensitivity and language rather than a specific act of assistance or the provision of information.
But there is an obvious tension between staff numbers, call duration/answering times and having the time and space to communicate in this manner.

7. The process of describing response activity
Call-handlers would usually provide information on response activity, which would include:
a phone call or visit from an officer, or;
a letter from the constabulary.
When doing this, honesty and accuracy were seen as paramount, as was delivering information sensitively.
Caller satisfaction was linked to the accuracy of this response information.
But, call-handlers encountered specific challenges when trying to achieve this.

8. Challenges when providing response information
Factors outside the information that call-handlers record from callers can play a part in determining police response activity:
Further information can become available after the initial phone call.
The incident can subsequently be identified as one in a series of crimes.
There was variation in how separate departments/police teams within the constabulary responded to certain crimes:
Different districts prioritised different things, spent budgets differently and dealt with certain things in different ways.
Workload and availability would vary dramatically between district teams also.

9. Conclusions and areas for future enquiry
Arguments concerning procedural justice apply to the police non-emergency call centre.
In a performance driven, resource restricted environment is it always possible to provide the emotional support which those who call the police value?
Should non-emergency call-handlers refrain from engaging in detailed discussions about police response activity to avoid the negative impact that inaccurate information can have on members of the public?

10. Contact details and references for research
Dr Andrew Stafford
University of Gloucestershire
Stafford, A. B. (2017) ‘Providing victims of crime with information on police response activity: The challenges faced by the police non-emergency call- handler’. Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles.
Stafford, A. B. (2016) ‘What matters to the public when they call the police? Insights from a call centre’. Policing and Society, 26 (4), pp