PROTESTS . . . the former Dumfries and Galloway Police Control Room at Cornwall Mount, Dumfries, was closed last year
The claim was made by South of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Jim Hume as he responded to an interim review of the service by the police watchdog, HMICS.
It called for the suspension of planned closures of call centres in the north of Scotland until a new centralised area control room was fully operational.
Mr Hume stated the report indicated pressure of call demand on remaining staff in some control rooms remained ‘unacceptably high’ and that the current practice of diverting unanswered ‘overflow’ calls between sites in Govan, Motherwell and Bilston Glen was creating additional risk.
The HMICS review was ordered after the tragic deaths of John Yuill and Lamara Bell following a crash on the M9 which took Police Scotland around three days to respond.
Dumfries and Galloway Police control room at Cornwall Mount was closed last year and call handling operations were relocated between centres at Glasgow and Motherwell.
Mr Hume said: “This review has revealed that systemic problems in police control rooms present a continued risk to the public.
“The interim report just scratches the surface of the problems in control rooms. I fear there is more to come when the full report comes out and when Police Investigations and Review Commissioner’s investigation is completed.
“People will want assurances that immediate steps will be taken to reduce pressure on control room staff and to prevent any more calls from slipping through the net.”
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