Recommendations - North Yorkshire Police, December 2020
A man rang 999 and spoke to North Yorkshire Police after he found his son unresponsive. The address of the incident was close to the North Yorkshire border but was in fact in Lancashire. The call handler could not locate the exact address on the command and control system STORM, so entered the address with a different postcode in the address bar but wrote in the free text the correct address. A second call handler rang the ambulance service but provided them with the incorrect postcode as they did not see the clarification in the free text, causing a twenty minute delay to the ambulance service as they tried to locate the property.
IOPC reference
Recommendations
The IOPC recommends that North Yorkshire Police ensure clear procedures and guidance are cascaded to all control room staff for dealing with out of force incidents, in particular, those located close to the force border, with respect to the the use of the Smart Storm computer system and address input. It may be deemed prudent to include review of the functionality of Smart Storm when dealing with cross border incidents.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
North Yorkshire Police accept these learning points. These have been allocated to the Head of Public Contact, Supt J Dickson to own these recommendations.
The issue over not being able to enter the address is a national issue. I understand that the IOPC are addressing this nationally, and I note that HM Coroner has this information who may also be able to influence.
The other points are those of training and resilience matters. These have been addressed by Supt Dickson through Force Control training.
I am satisfied that these lessons have been appropriately accepted, allocated and actioned.
The IOPC recommends that North Yorkshire Police should provide a training input into all control room staff to cover best practice when passing incident information to partner agencies, such as the ambulance service.
Do you accept the recommendation?
Yes
Accepted action:
North Yorkshire Police accept these learning points. These have been allocated to the Head of Public Contact, Supt J Dickson to own these recommendations.
The issue over not being able to enter the address is a national issue. I understand that the IOPC are addressing this nationally, and I note that HM Coroner has this information who may also be able to influence.
The other points are those of training and resilience matters. These have been addressed by Supt Dickson through Force Control training.
I am satisfied that these lessons have been appropriately accepted, allocated and actioned.