92% of 999 calls responded to within 15 minutes

A Redbridge Police Chief Inspector has praised his emergency response teams for responding to more than 90% of 999 calls within 15 minutes.

The Metropolitan Police aim to respond to 90% of all emergency calls, known as I Grade (Immediate response) calls, within 15 minutes and S Grade calls (Significant response), within one hour.

Between April 1 and December 1 of this year, there were 10,022 999 calls made to Redbridge police, of which 92.8% were responded to within 15 minutes.

There were also 14,397 S Grade calls, of which 89.8% were responded to within one hour.

Chief Inspector Michael Forbes praised his teams for their hard work.

“I’m very proud of our team,” he said. “They work very hard, and when everyone else is running away from trouble, they’re running towards it. They take the brunt of the risk.”

Emergency calls made by Redbridge residents are answered by call handlers in Bow, passed on to a dispatcher who puts the call out to police over radio, who aim to be at the scene of the emergency within 15 minutes.

“I Grade calls are things like stabbings, armed burglaries, pub fights and domestic violence,” added Insp Forbes.

“S Grade calls are things like domestic violence when the suspect is no longer at the scene and burglaries when the suspect is no longer at the scene.

“10,022 999 calls is slightly above the average for boroughs in the Met but is the lowest in east London.”

There are five emergency response teams in Redbridge made up of 139 officers who work nine hour shifts, 24/7.