Response to abandoned 999 call - Kent Police, August 2017

At about 1.40am on 19 August 2017, British Telecom routed an abandoned 999 call to Kent Police. The recording of the call details a man’s voice, very quiet and muffled, appearing to ask for the police. The line was then cut off by the caller. An incident log was created by the control room operator who dealt with the abandoned 999 call.

A check of previous calls made by the mobile phone number that had made the abandoned 999 call to Kent Police showed the number was linked to a man. The control room operator completed intelligence checks on Kent Police systems, which showed a number of warnings recorded for the man, including for domestic violence.

Following this, the control room operator decided not to call the telephone number back. The call was graded as ‘high’, meaning Kent Police aimed to attend within four hours. The incident log was then transferred to other staff in dispatch, who completed a number of reviews of this log.

At about 2.24am Kent Police received a call from a member of the public in Folkestone Harbour reporting a man lying on the floor with significant injuries.

Police officers and paramedics attended the scene, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was later identified as the man who had made the abandoned 999 call.

During the investigation, we gathered and examined relevant documents, reviewed the abandoned 999 call and analysed the force’s call handling systems. We also obtained witness statements from the police staff who dealt with the abandoned 999 call on 19 August 2017.

Following this, three members of Kent Police staff were served with misconduct notices regarding their assessment and grading of the abandoned call. We particularly looked at whether they followed local and national policy and guidance.

At the end of the investigation, based on the evidence available, we were of the opinion that the three members of Kent Police staff had followed guidance in place and had therefore not breached professional standards of behaviour.

However, we made a learning recommendation to the force regarding its call handling policy when the individuals involved have warning markers, such as for domestic violence. The force is implementing this.