Dorset Police set to share live, real-time updates on hundreds of incidents to highlight demand

Dorset Police are to share live, real-time updates on hundreds of incidents today including redacted information of every contact received into the Force via 999 and 101 over a 12 hour period.

Beginning at 3pm on Saturday 16 September, it will highlight the demand the Force faces daily, showing the variety and volume of calls for assistance received.

Members of the public can keep up to date with what’s happening on X (formerly known as Twitter) by following @DorsetPolice and keeping an eye out for the #ControlRoomLIVE hashtag.

In the equivalent 12-hour period last year, the Force dealt with 425 calls. 280 of these through the emergency 999 line and 145 via the 101 non-emergency number.

It resulted in the Force creating 315 incidents and recording 80 crimes.

In the last few weeks, the Force has been busier than ever before, receiving 13,082 calls to 999 in August 2023 alone.

That's an increase of 15 per cent versus August 2022 - and this is on top of more than 22,000 non-emergency contacts also received in August 2023.

Chief Superintendent Gavin Dudfield said: “We hope this initiative will give the public an insight into the diverse range of calls that come into the Force on an average Saturday night, which is one of the busier times of the week.

The vast majority of our demand starts with a phone call to our contact centres, and I would like to thank our dedicated officers and staff who work hard to ensure we deliver an outstanding service to our communities day-in, day-out.”

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