| Oct 28, 2011 |
Derby Raynet members went on another club outing, this time to Derbyshire Police Headquarters in Ripley. We went to have a look around the force Control Rooms and Contact Centre, our guide for the evening was Chief Inspector Rick Gooch who is one of the force members in charge of Contact Management.
Our tour started of in a conference room where we were given an explanation as to how the building came to be built and what its function is. We then moved off to see other rooms and then where 999 calls are taken and dealt with, this is a large area with each area being covered by an operator to each policing area within the County. At the front of this area is a large screen where CCTV images are displayed and any other relevant information. Images from the force helicopter can also be seen here which allows operational decisions to be made.
Another system demonstrated to us was Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR); this is technology that automatically reads vehicle registration plates, allowing these details to be compared against database records. ANPR is an established technology used not only by police Forces but also by other government agencies, such as the Highways Agency, and commercial companies including petrol stations, shopping centres and car parks.
Next on our tour we saw various Briefing and Training rooms equipped with the latest audiovisual equipment. Then we saw the welfare facilities that are available to the staff, these include rest rooms and kitchen areas.
Our group were shown the 101 Control room this is the new service that deals with non emergency calls made to the Police, we were told that it is part of a national drive to make it easier for people to contact police to report crime and disorder. It is hoped that 101 will reduce the number of inappropriate 999 calls, allowing the force to respond to emergencies more effectively. Rick told us that when you call 101, you will be able to speak to the police force control room of your local police service.
Members were able to ask questions about the operation of the Contact Centre and this then brought our visit to an end, all of our members on the visit said that they had found it to be most interesting and our thanks go to Chief Inspector Rick Gooch for giving us the tour.