Force Control Room
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Each month on average, our state-of-the-art, purpose-built Force Control Room receives 23, 500 emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 calls.
Of those, 93 per cent of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds, and 76 per cent of 101 calls within 30 seconds – which are among the best responses of any force in the country.
The Contact Officer and Dispatcher roles are one of the most important positions within Humberside Police. You will be at the heart of our Force Control Room, acting as the first point of contact for all our 999 emergency and 101 non-emergency calls, making it hugely challenging but very rewarding at the same time.
From missing persons to road traffic collisions, burglaries to serious assaults and everything in between, as a Call Handler you will be involved in handling them all, and being the first point of contact for members of the public who are often at their most vulnerable and distressed at their point of calling. You’ll be joining a fast-paced dynamic environment where no two days are the same.
The role is ideal for someone who has a calm head under pressure, has a real eye for detail and for someone who is accurate when it comes to capturing and processing information. We often must make split second decisions based solely on what we have been told by someone on the other end of the phone who may be injured, distressed, or involved in an ongoing crime where time is very much of the essence.
You will reassure callers whilst simultaneously gathering as much information as possible to help our response offices deal with emergency incidents to ensure we protect and serve our communities to make them safer and stronger.
There is no doubt that this will be an unpredictable and challenging role, but it will offer genuine satisfaction knowing that you have helped play a part in keeping people safe.
You will be provided with all the training, support, and encouragement you need to become the best Contact Handler you can be. Training on criminal law and effective communication will be provided during your initial classroom training and then you will receive personalised tutoring where you will be putting all your training into practice with one of our experiences staff members on hand for advice or assistance.
There is also the opportunity to progress to become a Dispatcher, which focuses on prioritising incidents and deploying frontline officers to where they need to be.
Other departments include the Automatic Numberplate Recognition operators (ANPR), Police National Computer (PNC) team and the Domestic Abuse Coordination Team (DACT), alongside our mental health experts.
If you’re up for the challenge and want to join the number one Force Control in the country, then this is the job for you.
Join us at our next forcewide in-person event to hear directly from Contact and Dispatch Officers, and get a real-world flavour of what it's like to work here!
Hear from our people to find out more about the role and what to expect.
Meet Hendrik
"I'll laugh or cry at the end of each day, but I'll know I've made a difference."
Hendrik joined the force on the main switchboard in 2021, and moved to the call centre in 2022, where he takes emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 calls for assistance from the public.
It is his job to quickly assess the level of support required. He can deal with some incidents himself, but others will need to be referred to the dispatch team, who organise the required level of officer response.
“We get all sorts of calls. They could be about safeguarding issues for children, domestic abuse, burglary, robbery, thefts, threats. A lot of the time it’s about knowing when to refer them to other services or organisations such as the council or other partners.”
Meet Martina
Our officers and staff live and work in the communities in which they serve too.
Our people behind the uniform all have stories too. Like our Force Incident Manager, Martina:
What's yours?
Join #TeamHumberside and make the difference you want to see in your community.
Meet Sarah
Sarah is one of the Dispatchers sitting in our state-of-the-art Force Control Room.
We caught up with her to hear all about her role, what it's really like, and how her previous experience in roles outside of policing helped her get to where she is today!
Tell me about your role, and how long you've been with Humberside Police?
I started as a Switchboard Operator five years ago, where I stayed for two and a half years. I then became a Contact Officer, and then for the last couple of years I have been a Dispatcher.
What's the difference between those three roles?
As a Switchboard Operator, you're responsible for taking non-emergency 101 calls and sending other calls where they need to go. This might be sending people through to specific officers, the dispatch or crime team.
Contact Officers take the non-emergency 101 calls, set up the logs and either refer to the dispatchers, or to the crime response team in cases where response officers are not required to attend a live scene or crime in progress. The crime response team would record the crime, raise reports and have longer to deal with cases.
The Dispatchers are the ones who manage live, ongoing incidents and jobs, and make the decision to dispatch response units across our force area.
When you started with the FCR five years ago, was this your first job in policing?
It was yes. Before joining the police, I worked for a vehicle garage and recovery company in a customer service-based role.
That's interesting. What kind of transferable skills did you bring with you?
I definitely think the skills I gained there have been fully transferable into my role as a Dispatcher. I gained good knowledge of the local area, as well as becoming a good listener, and of course being able to multi-task!
I had to deal with more than one incident at a time, as well as assess the risk of incoming and outgoing incidents, which is similar to what I do now taking 999 emergency calls and dispatching the appropriate response unit to the incident as quickly as possible.
Coming from a customer service role has really helped build my confidence, especially when it comes to remaining calm under pressure when I often receive calls from distressed people.
Why did you change your career to join Humberside Police?
I changed my career into policing because I wanted a job that makes a difference, and to help people.
What kind of support is in place for career progression, training and development?
From my own experience, I have had support from my supervisor and other supervision when progressing through each of my roles.
When you move into the Contact Officer role, you're given a training course, and then spend time shadowing a tutor before taking calls yourself.
Becoming a Dispatcher means a 10-week on the job training course with a dedicated tutor before going solo. But even then, you still have plenty of support around you - both from a professional and welfare perspective too.
There are also opportunities to spend time with other departments to help expand your knowledge and gain a better understanding of how they work, and what we can do to help each other.
Since starting, I have spent a day with the Roads Policing Team and Protecting Vulnerable People Unit which gave me a good insight into what their daily taskings and workload are.
Is it what you expected?
Yes and no. When you move to dispatch you have a general idea of what the role is but there is a lot more that goes into it when you get to this stage of your career.
Being a dispatcher can be very challenging mentally and a lot of the incidents you deal with can be quite distressing. You have your colleagues who go through the same thing as you and there is always someone to talk to.
Humberside Police also has the Occupational Health Department as well as the employee support program that can be accessed if you need any additional support such as counselling.
From personal experience I have found both to be helpful and was offered support quite quickly when I needed it. Humberside Police also have specially trained Trauma Risk Management assessors available to speak with and offer support if you have had to deal with a particularly difficult incident.
What do you love about it the most?
The part of the job that I love the most is the variety of incidents that you deal with daily.
There are some incidents that you will come across regularly but there is always something different and the job is very fast paced. If we can make a difference to one person’s life every day, then I feel that’s a job well done.
Meet Bradley
I started with Humberside Police in November 2022 as a direct entry dispatcher, and it was my first job in policing. I had been at my previous job straight from leaving school in 2014 but it was time for a new challenge in a totally different career where I could financially secure my future.
I previously worked at the Hull FC Foundation (where I still volunteer today) as a sports coach in schools and the local community across Hull, East Riding and North Lincolnshire. It was a fantastic job which I strongly believe helped shape me into the person I am today. During my time there I worked with a wide range of people including children, adults, and people with additional needs. I think this has helped me become very adaptable and resilient as well as patient. I have a strong work ethic and I’m keen to help my colleagues where I can. I think my last job taught me the importance of working as a team, especially in stressful situations, something which has been really important in the FCR during busy periods!
It has been a huge learning curve over the last 18 months. Coming into the role with no policing background has been quite tough at times, learning what different policing terms and acronyms took some time, but thanks to all the good people around me, particularly my tutors Carol and Saz I managed to pick it all up eventually even if I do still go blank now and again! Over the last six months or so I feel much more confident in the job and feel as though I’ve made plenty of progress. I know there’s still some way to go in that respect but I’m looking forward to that challenge of one day reaching the same levels as our experienced dispatchers.
Being able to help people is something I’ve always enjoyed, so being able to do that daily is something I really enjoy about the job. I enjoy the fast paced and unpredictable nature of the job, one minute you can be having a chat with your colleges and the next you’re in the middle of a big job. it keeps the days interesting and again once that jobs over you get that sense of pride from helping someone or getting a positive outcome. I also enjoy helping people on shift whether that be helping my colleges with a task or helping some of the newer staff with different things!
The first emergency I took when I was without my tutor was a man who claimed he was on his way to murder someone over a disagreement. I remember panicking initially, and just thinking I hope we get there in time! Officers managed to get him just before he got to the address, so I remember feeling a huge sense of relief at that point.
I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but the different types and volume of jobs has certainly been an eye opener! Before I started, I never really thought of the work that goes into everything between the call coming in and the officers getting to someones door. The number of different checks that are undertaken in the short amount of time that officers have to arrive is quite surprising. There are definitely misconceptions around what goes on in the job, I think most of my friends think we all sit in a call centre racing to answer the phone, so trying to explain what goes on in the job without seeing it can be quite difficult, but I think they’re starting to understand.
I think anyone who would enjoy every day being different and fast-paced would be good for the role. You definitely have to be able to adapt to different situations and concentrate for a long time but you don’t always need a policing background, as some might think. It's good to work with so many different people from different walks of life. I think if you can communicate effectively and are willing to learn then you’d be able to succeed as a dispatcher.
I’m thankful for all the help and support I’ve received from my colleges and supervisors so far. It’s not always been easy and has taken some time to adapt but I’m really grateful for my workmates getting me through the tough shifts and I’m looking forward to continuing to work with them for years to come.