❓ The government is investing in the Police Assistance Centre (PAC) to improve response times to non-emergency calls, freeing up police for frontline duties. Statistics are provided to demonstrate success.
AnsweredQoN 437Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the minister advise what the government is doing to ensure that the public’s calls for police assistance are dealt with promptly? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS
AnswerView source ↗
Fighting crime quickly and effectively has certainly been a priority of this government. The latest crime statistics show that the Gallop government is on track with its community safety program and is having a major impact in reducing crime. In fact, we have hit 10-year lows in incidents of car theft and home burglary; these crimes spiralled out of control under the former Liberal government. Re-equipping our Police Service with the latest high-tech services to achieve the crime fighting goal has been a major budget priority, and it will continue to be so. The Police Assistance Centre is one example of how the new services are boosting community safety. This government is investing more than $20 million over four years on this important initiative, which is providing people with quicker responses to emergency calls. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 90 per cent of calls were answered within 20 seconds, which is an outstanding result. Previously, more than 100 000 hours were spent by police officers answering non-emergency calls. The new Police Assistance Centre, with 40 specially trained staff, allows more police officers to return to the front line of policing to better service the community. The government’s investment in the PAC is already paying dividends. From January to August this year, the number of calls to the new 131 444 number has increased from an average of 230 calls a week to an average of 6 100 calls a week. Importantly, the number of calls to the emergency 000 number has declined. The PAC is about smarter and faster policing. The community has a right to expect its calls for assistance to be answered quickly and to be dealt with promptly. The Police Assistance Centre is achieving exactly that goal, and, at the same time, returning more police officers to the front line.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: Fighting crime quickly and effectively has certainly been a priority of this government. The latest crime statistics show that the Gallop government is on track with its community safety program and is having a major impact in reducing crime. In fact, we have hit 10-year lows in incidents of car theft and home burglary; these crimes spiralled out of control under the former Liberal government. Re-equipping our Police Service with the latest high-tech services to achieve the crime fighting goal has been a major budget priority, and it will continue to be so. The Police Assistance Centre is one example of how the new services are boosting community safety. This government is investing more than $20 million over four years on this important initiative, which is providing people with quicker responses to emergency calls. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 90 per cent of calls were answered within 20 seconds, which is an outstanding result. Previously, more than 100 000 hours were spent by police officers answering non-emergency calls. The new Police Assistance Centre, with 40 specially trained staff, allows more police officers to return to the front line of policing to better service the community. The government’s investment in the PAC is already paying dividends. From January to August this year, the number of calls to the new 131 444 number has increased from an average of 230 calls a week to an average of 6 100 calls a week. Importantly, the number of calls to the emergency 000 number has declined. The PAC is about smarter and faster policing. The community has a right to expect its calls for assistance to be answered quickly and to be dealt with promptly. The Police Assistance Centre is achieving exactly that goal, and, at the same time, returning more police officers to the front line.
Fighting crime quickly and effectively has certainly been a priority of this government. The latest crime statistics show that the Gallop government is on track with its community safety program and is having a major impact in reducing crime. In fact, we have hit 10-year lows in incidents of car theft and home burglary; these crimes spiralled out of control under the former Liberal government. Re-equipping our Police Service with the latest high-tech services to achieve the crime fighting goal has been a major budget priority, and it will continue to be so. The Police Assistance Centre is one example of how the new services are boosting community safety. This government is investing more than $20 million over four years on this important initiative, which is providing people with quicker responses to emergency calls. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 90 per cent of calls were answered within 20 seconds, which is an outstanding result. Previously, more than 100 000 hours were spent by police officers answering non-emergency calls. The new Police Assistance Centre, with 40 specially trained staff, allows more police officers to return to the front line of policing to better service the community. The government’s investment in the PAC is already paying dividends. From January to August this year, the number of calls to the new 131 444 number has increased from an average of 230 calls a week to an average of 6 100 calls a week. Importantly, the number of calls to the emergency 000 number has declined. The PAC is about smarter and faster policing. The community has a right to expect its calls for assistance to be answered quickly and to be dealt with promptly. The Police Assistance Centre is achieving exactly that goal, and, at the same time, returning more police officers to the front line.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: Fighting crime quickly and effectively has certainly been a priority of this government. The latest crime statistics show that the Gallop government is on track with its community safety program and is having a major impact in reducing crime. In fact, we have hit 10-year lows in incidents of car theft and home burglary; these crimes spiralled out of control under the former Liberal government. Re-equipping our Police Service with the latest high-tech services to achieve the crime fighting goal has been a major budget priority, and it will continue to be so. The Police Assistance Centre is one example of how the new services are boosting community safety. This government is investing more than $20 million over four years on this important initiative, which is providing people with quicker responses to emergency calls. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 90 per cent of calls were answered within 20 seconds, which is an outstanding result. Previously, more than 100 000 hours were spent by police officers answering non-emergency calls. The new Police Assistance Centre, with 40 specially trained staff, allows more police officers to return to the front line of policing to better service the community. The government’s investment in the PAC is already paying dividends. From January to August this year, the number of calls to the new 131 444 number has increased from an average of 230 calls a week to an average of 6 100 calls a week. Importantly, the number of calls to the emergency 000 number has declined. The PAC is about smarter and faster policing. The community has a right to expect its calls for assistance to be answered quickly and to be dealt with promptly. The Police Assistance Centre is achieving exactly that goal, and, at the same time, returning more police officers to the front line.
Fighting crime quickly and effectively has certainly been a priority of this government. The latest crime statistics show that the Gallop government is on track with its community safety program and is having a major impact in reducing crime. In fact, we have hit 10-year lows in incidents of car theft and home burglary; these crimes spiralled out of control under the former Liberal government. Re-equipping our Police Service with the latest high-tech services to achieve the crime fighting goal has been a major budget priority, and it will continue to be so. The Police Assistance Centre is one example of how the new services are boosting community safety. This government is investing more than $20 million over four years on this important initiative, which is providing people with quicker responses to emergency calls. In fact, a recent survey indicated that 90 per cent of calls were answered within 20 seconds, which is an outstanding result. Previously, more than 100 000 hours were spent by police officers answering non-emergency calls. The new Police Assistance Centre, with 40 specially trained staff, allows more police officers to return to the front line of policing to better service the community. The government’s investment in the PAC is already paying dividends. From January to August this year, the number of calls to the new 131 444 number has increased from an average of 230 calls a week to an average of 6 100 calls a week. Importantly, the number of calls to the emergency 000 number has declined. The PAC is about smarter and faster policing. The community has a right to expect its calls for assistance to be answered quickly and to be dealt with promptly. The Police Assistance Centre is achieving exactly that goal, and, at the same time, returning more police officers to the front line.
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