Crime hotlines are axed by City Hall - 24 hr Community Intelligence and Racial Incidents lines set to be scrapped

Published: 19 March 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

TWO non-emergency telephone hotlines set up to ease the burden on police officers have been axed.

City Hall crime chiefs this week announced the scrapping of the Community Intelligence and Racial Incidents lines – both 24-hour services – to make a saving of £13,788.

Officials decided there was too much of a crossover with services already provided by the force, as well as highlighting a number of systemic problems with the running of the lines that had limited their usefulness.

The lines meant concerned residents could leave a message with details of an incident, and could request a call back.

Some now fear that low-priority complaints that had been dealt with through the hotlines will go ignored.

Between 2008 and 2009 the lines received more than 3,500 calls, with almost 2,000 made during the current financial year.

But an internal report recommending the decision to scrap them revealed some deficiencies.

It stated: “All information is logged and is easily accessible. The line performs well in mystery shopping exercises and meets its target conversion rates. However, there is around a week’s delay from the customer making the call, to their query being answered by a liaison officer.”

Another section of the report described how some crimes went unrecorded because call handlers did not always email the council.

“In 2007, the Racial Incidents Hotline was incorporated into the Community Intelligence Line,” the report said. “However, this is complicated by the fact that the hotline number (020 7641 6191) is still advertised on the council’s website. Vertex call handlers have been asked to email racial incident reports to raceequality@westminster.gov.uk and it is unclear who owns or checks this email address. There is no official record of hate crime reports this financial year.”

Responding to the news, Soho resident Lisa Pender said: “I would feel slightly uncomfortable and not very hopeful that any non-emergency incident I reported to the police would be dealt with any degree of urgency or importance, considering the amount of serious crimes which take place in the capital on a daily basis.”

Ms Pender’s sentiments backed up by leader of the Labour group in Westminster Council, Paul Dimoldenberg.

He said: “This is a tale of both Conservative incompetence and more cuts to services. Both these phone lines could provide a valuable service to local residents but they have been incompetently managed by the council and its contractors. 

“Now, instead of fixing the problems, the Conservatives are scrapping these services altogether.

“And at the same time, the Conservatives are happy to spend £23,000 on the civic dinner to entertain their friends at a five-star hotel.”

Daniel Astaire, Westminster City Council’s cabinet member for community safety, said: “Racial crime is such an important subject that these matters should be reported directly to the police. 

“This is not about money, it’s about ensuring the right information goes to the right place efficiently and quickly, and vulnerable people get the help they need.

“We recommend that if someone is calling about anti-social behaviour they can phone the police’s single non-emergency line, the neighbourhood crime reduction line or report it via the website. If they are phoning about environmental issues they should call the council’s environmental action line.”