North Yorkshire Police Face Exceptionally Busy Summer As Call Volumes Surge

North Yorkshire Police are urging the public to use online services and callback features for non-urgent queries following a massive surge in 999 and 101 calls driven by hot weather, the World Cup, and seasonal tourism.

North Yorkshire Police have experienced an exceptionally busy few weeks as the force faces a significant increase in the number of 999 and 101 calls resulting from heightened seasonal demand. The summer months traditionally bring an influx of visitors to the region, but recent weeks have seen a sharp rise in activity driven by a combination of exceptionally hot weather, the ongoing World Cup tournament, and the seasonal tourism that the county regularly enjoys.

The surge in demand has placed considerable pressure on the force's control room. To illustrate the scale of the increase, the police force recorded just over 3999 calls over the course of a single week recently. This represents a substantial rise when compared to the 2,400 calls received during the exact same week last year. Despite this intense pressure, police leadership has praised the dedication of the staff handling the communications.

Chief Constable Tim Forber said:

"It is an exceptionally busy time the last week, we've had exceptionally hot weather we've got the World Cup on as well plus the seasonal tourism that we enjoy here in North Yorkshire.

Last week we have just over three thousand 999 calls compared to 2,400 in the same week last year, so that just gives you a sense of it is exceptionally busy.

Tthe control room is continuing to hold its own in terms of providing that service to the public, which is really testament to to to the the exceptionally hard working staff who work in there, but it is an exceptionally busy time at the moment."

Due to the high volume of critical emergency contacts, the force is encouraging residents and visitors across North Yorkshire to utilise alternative methods of communication where appropriate. While 999 should always be used in an emergency, the Chief Constable has asked the public to consider using the police website or callback features for non-urgent matters. This approach helps ensure that call handlers remain available for those in immediate danger.

Chief Constable Tim Forber noted that while performance in answering calls has improved significantly in recent years, the sheer volume of emergency situations means fewer staff are available to handle non-emergency inquiries on the 101 service.

"What we aim to do is answer the calls within 5 minutes and most recently we're answering well in excess of 80% of calls within 5 minutes and that's performance is significantly improved on where we were a couple of years ago.

Of course, when people are engaged on emergency calls there's less people to answer 101, but we do have the facility for people to register for a callback. We obviously do have an online presence as well.

What I would say to people is if you need us call us but if there are other ways of dealing with it if you can deal with your query online, if you want us to call you back at the time is convenient for you, we're more than happy to do that."

Preparing for this dramatic shift in seasonal activity requires extensive planning from the force. The difference in policing requirements between the quieter winter months and the peak summer tourist season in North Yorkshire is exceptionally pronounced. To combat this, the police force's resource management unit begins planning at the start of the year to ensure that the operating model is correctly aligned with the expected summer surge.

Chief Constable Tim Forber said:

"We have a really good understanding of our demand and we make sure that our operating model is set up in order to meet that demand as best we can across the year.

Of course, we recognize that demand is busier in the summer and I have to say, during my entire police career, I've never worked in a force that has such a difference between its summer demand and its winter demand.

And our resource management unit puts in a lot of effort right from the start of the year, making sure that we plan our resource right across the summer months."