Figures showing the lengthy wait many Londoners face in attempting to contact the 101 police non-emergency line have been revealed by Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat Londonwide Assembly Member.
Caroline's questions to the Mayor revealed that in 2017:
- Almost one million Londoners simply gave up seeking to get through to the 101 telephone line
- The average time during 2017 to get through was 4 minutes and 4 seconds, although in June 2017 it soared to 8 minutes and 20 seconds
- The longest length of time for anyone to get through was a staggering 5 hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds
Commenting on these figures, Caroline said:
“These figures are quite frankly shocking. One million Londoners attempted to report incidents to the police but often in frustration simply gave up.
“If we want to ensure London is safer it is vital that people can easily pass on information to the police.
“While the Met are right to highlight that there is a range of ways to contact the police, for many people a telephone is their preferred form of communication. With police stations and counters being closed down it has never been more important to ensure that people can easily contact the police via the telephone.”