I often struggle to find topics for me to write about for this column. I try to keep them to relevant and topical to what I see on a regular basis while at work.
One topic I frequently write about is the need to call 111. That is simply because, so often, I see instances where people decide to call someone else and not police.
This week we had an incident where a member of the public witnessed an assault. The member of the public decided to call Commsafe (Neighbourhood Support) instead of 111. I received a phone call immediately from Commsafe to let me know of the assault.
Unfortunately I was out of town assisting at a search warrant. I told Commsafe to ring 111 to organise police to attend. The lengthy process this all took meant there was a delay in police being able to attend.
The other issue is that the witness who had eyes on the incident was not the 111 caller, a third party was. All our information was second hand. This means we lose valuable information as to what is happening, and puts the attending Police staff at risk because they have less information in which to make their own risk assessments.
I cannot labour this point enough. There is no point reporting anything to someone else. Ring 111. It’s that simple. Three simple numbers we all learned in school.
