All 999 calls taken seriously

SIR – I would like to thank the WHT for taking the time to visit us and their coverage on the work that we do in the Force Contact Centre at Police Headquarters, WGC (WHT, October 15). While it presented the work we do in an interesting and relevant way

SIR - I would like to thank the WHT for taking the time to visit us and their coverage on the work that we do in the Force Contact Centre at Police Headquarters, WGC (WHT, October 15).

While it presented the work we do in an interesting and relevant way to all readers, it also highlighted for members of the public the importance of dialling 999 only in an emergency; providing clarity as to when to call us and what number to use.

However, there are a few points that I would like to clarify.

Firstly, and most importantly, I would like to reassure people that we take all 999 calls seriously and at face value until such time as we know otherwise. Often this will mean dispatching officers to a scene to investigate an allegation or incident before we can determine whether it is a genuine emergency or a malicious hoax.

Hoax calls are always malicious. We do however receive calls on the 999 service from people in error because they are unclear what they should use the service for. On these occasions we do not assume that the caller is making a malicious or hoax call to us.

I hope this goes some way to clarify the issues we wanted to share with your readers and we will of course continue to do our utmost to provide the best service we can to the people of Hertfordshire.

Vanessa Lye, force control centre manager, Hertfordshire Constabulary.