Spotlight: Claire McCann - Communications Operator
Claire McCann has worked in Cheshire Constabulary’s Call
Management department for three years. She is trained to answer
emergency and non-emergency calls.
She said: “We are very often the first point of contact for a
member of the public so we have to create a good impression, but we
have also got to make it as easy as possible for that person to
tell us what they need to tell us.
“Sometimes it can be very difficult for them to say, so we have
to put them at their ease. We don’t follow a script, but it is
important to control the call while empathising with the person at
the other end of the phone.”
Claire’s role is to get as much information as possible to
create a comprehensive report of an incident which officers can
respond to. She also grades the incident to tell officers what type
response is required.
She continued: “You have to listen, ask the right questions and
manage their expectations. When people contact the police, the
issue they are reporting is usually the most important issue in
their life at that particular moment and they want an officer at
their house immediately.
“They know what has happened to them, but from experience I know
the best way of handling certain situations. I also know that there
could well be someone in an emergency situation who needs a quicker
police response.
“It is important that we explain at every stage why we are doing
something. It is vital that people don’t go off the phone feeling
you haven’t helped them or confused about why a particular course
of action is being taken.”
Claire’s previous career in newspaper sales has stood her in
excellent stead for communicating with members of the public on a
daily basis.
She added: “You’ve got to like people and be interested in
people, but you can’t be too emotional about it because when you
are dealing with people who terrible things might have happened to
they need someone who can progress their situation to a
satisfactory conclusion.
“It’s so varied. You never know what you are going to get until
you start asking questions.”
If you have ever wondered what happens when you dial 999, the
answers are to be found in Cheshire Constabulary’s call management
bureau.
The call management department is the first point of contact for
anyone requesting police help. The operators take around 2,900
emergency calls every week, in addition to nearly 7,000 non-999
calls.
We employ more than 200 staff to answer your calls and record
your crime and incidents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Emergency calls
Emergency 999 calls are handled in the resource deployment
centre.
Our 999 call handlers strive to answer all calls within 10
seconds as per the Policing Pledge and they exceed the 90 per cent
target for doing this.
The calls are answered at a centralised office at police
headquarters in Winsford to make our service as efficient as
possible. Staff are split into command units for different areas of
the county. Members of each unit have specialist knowledge of the
locations they are sending patrols to and know the officers who are
on patrol.
Patrols are immediately sent out to emergencies and callers are
given an estimated time of when police will arrive.
You should only dial 999 in the cases of emergency when:
- there is a danger to life
- violence is used or threatened
- a serious crime (violent crime/burglary) is in progress or
likely to occur
- a suspect for a serious crime is nearby
- there is a road traffic collision involving personal injury or
danger to other road users
- a vulnerable person needs urgent attention
Non-emergency calls
The non-emergency number for Cheshire Police is 0845 458
0000.
A switchboard team in the call management bureau deals with
non-emergency calls. They assess the seriousness of the call and
decide who is the best person to deal with the enquiry.
We aim to answer all non-emergency calls within our target time
of 30 seconds. As with emergency calls, the call handlers exceed
the targets for this.