Callers abandon thousands of calls to police 101 number

Figures show that 77,670 calls made to the 101 number were abandoned in 2015.

Police Scotland set up the 101 number in 2013 for non-emergencies such as vandalism, car theft and minor traffic incidents.

An abandoned call is defined as one in which the caller hangs up before speaking to an adviser.

In the year to July almost 2.6 million calls were made to the 101 number. The average wait is about 12 seconds but in one case a person waited nearly 16 minutes.

The numbers were obtained via a freedom of information request made by radio station Heart.

Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins said: “It is misleading and inaccurate to suggest that in excess of 77,000 non-emergency calls are ‘unanswered’ by Police Scotland.

“Calls referred to as ‘abandoned’ are defined as a call where the caller has disconnected without speaking to an adviser.

“This is not a suggestion that calls are routinely being unanswered but rather that the caller has chosen to disconnect the call.

“This could be for a number of reasons including the caller has decided to redial and select another option from the pre-recorded menu or police assistance is no longer required.

“Importantly, 101 callers are instructed while waiting to terminate the call and to dial ‘999’ if they are experiencing an emergency or the incident is escalating.”