Contact Management (999/101 Call Handler)
999/101 emergency call handling
Can you imagine the terror of being chased by someone with a knife? Being in your car on your usual daily drive, when you’re suddenly upside down in a pile of twisted metal? Or perhaps being on hand to witness a serious assault? Now imagine being on the other side. The voice of reason bringing calm to a distressed parent whose child is missing. Keeping an injured and vulnerable person on the line while you update the control room about what’s happening, reassuring your caller that help is on the way.
What's involved?
Our call handlers are the first point of contact for more than 1,000 emergency and 2,200 non-emergency phone calls, as well as hundreds more online interactions every day. One minute you’ll be taking a calm report from someone who’s seen criminal damage to a park bench, the next you’ll have to deal with someone you can’t understand because they’re just screaming and all you can hear in the background is people fighting.
As one of the most demanding yet rewarding roles in modern policing, you’ll need to stay calm under pressure, making key decision whilst taking information from a caller, while being resilient enough to deal with distressing calls or taking abuse someone you are trying to help.
You could find yourself working at one of our 3 control rooms located in Abingdon, Kidlington, and Milton Keynes.
As part of our contact management team, you will:
- be able to remain calm while handling emergency and non-emergency calls from the public on a daily basis
- have the resilience to deal with difficult situations while making important decisions under pressure
- work a shift pattern, including early, late, and night shifts – take a look at an example shift pattern
- make key decisions and demonstrate empathy with your caller who may be in a vulnerable position
- The starting salary for a full-time role as a call handler is £33,572.58 (inclusive of the 33.5% shift allowance)
- 24 days of annual leave plus Bank Holidays, rising to 29 days after five years’ service
- You’ll work towards a nationally recognised Emergency Service Contact Handler Apprenticeship qualification
- There are no upper age limits to apply, we value your life skills and experience
- Limited part-time shift patters are available – for more information, please contact RecruitmentStaffCM@thamesvalley.police.uk
- Access to discount schemes, including the Blue Light Card
- Membership of a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
- Be 18 or over
- Have a minimum UK residency period of three years
- English and Maths GCSE grade A-C are desirable (if you do not have this we will place you on a functional skills course)
- Be able to type at a speed of at least 24 words per minute with 75% accuracy
- Application
- Attend an online awareness session
- Undertake an online typing test
- Interview with competency based questions and a REID test, which includes extracting information and report writing
- Provisional offer
- Vetting, references, right to work and medical checks
- Training intake start date
Training
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Police Contact Enquiry Officers
Police Contact Enquiry Officers play an important role as the first point of contact for members of the public visiting a police station. You will also deal with internal customers, providing a high level of customer service to all.
What's involved?
You’ll deal with a wide variety of people, including victims of crime and offenders. Your role will vary from offering support and reassurance to vulnerable people, to reasoning with emotional, angry and sometimes confrontational visitors.
Attention to detail is key and there will be general administration and the responsibility for dealing with the receipt and return of property.
You will need to be assertive and have the ability to remain calm and think logically in challenging situations. Sensitivity and an appreciation of confidentiality and diversity is equally important.
As a Police Contact Enquiry Officer, you will:
- be the first point of contact for all members of the of the public visiting the police station
- provide high quality customer service for external and internal customers
- handle administrative tasks
- demonstrate sensitivity, confidentiality, and an appreciation of diversity
- deal with a wide variety of people
- The starting salary for a full-time permanent role is £25,148 (some locations will also attract an additional shift allowance)
- 24 days of annual leave plus bank holiday, rising to 29 days after five years’ service
- Access to discount schemes, including the Blue Light Card
- Membership of a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS
- Have a minimum UK residency period of three years
- Application
- Shortlisting
- Interview with competency based questions
- Provisional offer
- Pre-employment checks including medical and vetting
- Start date and training course