1/5/05
Alerting police to assist in non-emergency matters was today made easier and quicker with the launch of a new multi-million dollar police telephone system.
Police Minister Michelle Roberts said the new service, which included a new telephone number, was a significant boost to community safety with calls seeking non-emergency police assistance being answered within 30 seconds around-the-clock.
Opening the new Police Assistance Centre (PAC) in Midland today, Mrs Roberts said the facility - a massive $20million project over the next four years - replaced an outdated system which left callers confused and frustrated.
The Minister said the new number 131 444, in conjunction with PAC, would streamline the process for providing people with a quicker police response for non-emergency issues.
"This new state-of-the-art call centre is all about creating smarter and faster policing to protect and safeguard our communities from any kind of threat," she said.
"Re-equipping the Police Service with the latest technology to fight crime has been a major Budget priority for the Gallop Government over the last four years and we will continue this important program."
Mrs Roberts said the Police Service received nearly 500,000 phone calls a year seeking non-emergency assistance.
Under the current system there were several different phone numbers available for the public and when these calls were diverted, some were not being answered.
"The old system is archaic and inefficient," the Minister said.
"The public have a right for all calls to be answered quickly and responded to promptly and this new number and PAC will fast track this process.
"Most importantly it will be answered by real people - not a recorded message - who are working alongside police officers to provide the information and assistance required."
The Minister said more than 100,000 hours - or the equivalent of nearly 50 police officers - were spent answering non-emergency calls in the metropolitan area. The new facility would have more than 40 specially trained staff with emergency skills available to take the calls.
"In addition, PAC staff will also be trained on logging incident reports which will give police more time on patrol instead of desk duties cutting into their shift," she said.
"PAC is all about putting more police officers back on to operational frontline duties out fighting crime and protecting our communities."
Mrs Roberts said the Gallop Government was also committed to an extra 500 frontline police officers, in addition to the 250 more police already recruited over the last four years.
"Frontline policing and PAC is an integral part of our Government's vision for better policing which is focussed on putting the community first," she said.
Minister's office: 9213 6600
