Fifteen new members of staff have been taken on to strengthen the Staffordshire Police contact centre.

This comes as the force approaches its busiest time of year.

The new recruits are working as contact centre operators meaning they are responsible for managing 999 emergency calls, 101 non-emergency calls, and live chat enquiries.

As the first point of contact for the general public, they are responsible for assessing risk and triaging calls to ensure the most appropriate response.

Staffordshire Police said: "We are now answering 88 per cent of 999 calls within 10 seconds – with an average time of 8.83 seconds – and have handled an additional 901 emergency calls compared to the previous 12 months."

The amount of time to answer 101 calls has also been lowered.

Since May 2025, the average answer time has been reduced to under four minutes and has been under two minutes for the past six months.

Chief Constable Becky Riggs said: "Our contact centre is one of the most critical parts of our service, acting as the main link between our communities and frontline officers in times of need.

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"Over the past 12 months, we have worked hard to improve our contact performance to meet growing demand.

"However, we recognise there is more to do, and continued investment is essential if we are to provide the best possible service to victims.

"This additional investment will ensure we have more staff available during the summer period, when demand is at its peak."

Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire & Rescue and Crime Ben Adams said: "Improving contact with Staffordshire Police remains a key priority in my Police & Crime Plan so I welcome the force's determination to maintain a full complement of trained contact professionals to respond to the public around the clock.

"When our communities call the police to report crime or anti-social behaviour, they expect their calls to be answered quickly and for their issues to be dealt with effectively. Just as importantly, once people have made contact with the police, they expect to be kept updated about how their issue is progressing."