Celebrating International Control Room week

North Wales Police are supporting a week-long campaign which recognises and raises awareness of officers and staff who work in emergency service control rooms around the world.

Running from Monday 23rd until Sunday 29th October, International Control Room Week aims to celebrate the teams who use their knowledge, skills and expertise to quickly mobilise the appropriate resources required whilst also providing a reassuring voice to those in greatest need.

The Joint Communications Centre is a shared facility with the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service and is based in St Asaph. It is the beating heart of both emergency services with all call takers and dispatchers being the first point of contact for many who are in distress.

Over the last three months specially-trained staff have received over 30,400 ‘999’ calls, almost 60,000 calls on the non-emergency line, over 6,000 webchats and 15,000 emails.

From dealing with missing people, people in mental health crisis threatening suicide, reports of violent and serious assaults, fatal road traffic collisions and at times, being on the end of undeserved verbal abuse the Control Room is an extremely busy environment.

Temporary Chief Superintendent Mark Williams of North Wales Police said: “Our committed Control Room staff are the unsung heroes, working together to play a critical role in the safety and wellbeing of communities across north Wales.

“Our teams are the first point of contact for many people who are in need of our help, are vulnerable or maybe victims of crime. It’s down to the skills of the police communication operators to manage the initial call, to reassure the caller and obtain the facts and information needed to direct the correct response to the incident.

“We are fully supportive of International Control Room week which gives us the opportunity to recognise and publicly thank our teams who do an amazing job supporting our communities.

“An emergency service control room is a unique place to work. It never stops and is constantly challenging and it takes a special kind of person to work in it. Someone resilient and empathetic, who can think on their feet and take control of what can be very distressing and challenging situations. They often deal with situations and incidents of which the majority of people will never encounter and do so with great dignity. I am extremely proud of them.”

To learn more about the role of Communications Operators please visit our website Communications Operators | North Wales Police

To register your interest for our upcoming Communications Operators vacancies in 2024 please go to: Register Your Interest for our upcoming Communication Operators Vacancies in 2024 - Police Jobs Wales (tal.net)

Notes:

Between 23^rd July and 22^nd October 2023 North Wales Police officers and staff in the Control Room have received:

• 30,486 ‘999’ calls
• 59,548 calls on the 101 non-emergency line
• 6,164 webchats
• 15,236 emails