NEWS: Average 101 wait times have more than halved in past two years

As median average 101 call wait times are released nationally, we are publishing more information on the service we are currently offering to the people of South Yorkshire.

On average, we take between 860 and 920 non-emergency calls per day - making us one of the busiest forces nationally.

Despite the demand, our service continues to improve. Our 101 call abandonment rate has come down from 13.8% in April 2023 to 7.9% in April 2025.

Our mean average time for answering 101 calls has come down by 56 per cent in the past two years and now stands at one minute and 27 seconds. We always aim to answer 101 calls within three minutes, and 74 per cent of non-emergency calls are now answered by our force control room within this time.

We're improving our 999 service too. We've gone from 87.7% of 999 calls being answered in under 10 seconds in October 2024, to 92.4% in March of this year.

We're also receiving much more positive feedback from partner agencies, key stakeholders and, importantly, members of the public. Our victim satisfaction survey, covering the period between October and December 2024, showed 91% of victims were satisfied with their initial contact with us.

Chief Superintendent Cherie Buttle said: "We always strive to provide the highest standard of service to members of the public when they pick up the phone and dial 101.

"Although our performance as a force continues to improve, we know there is always more we can do - and we're not complacent. We're aware there are still periods of high demand where callers could be waiting up to an hour, and we've made improvements in this area to minimise the amount of times this happens.

"As part of this, we offer a call back service to those who prefer to be contacted as soon as an operator becomes available.

"It's also important to note that we always support call data being published in the interests of transparency, as this allows us to reflect on our processes. We are constantly reviewing our systems and new opportunities within the world of IT as we look for ways to build on the success of the past few years.

"I would continue to encourage people to use our website in non-emergencies whenever possible; particularly during our busiest times, which are usually between 10am and 6pm.

"This allows us to keep our call handlers free to deal with emergencies. Be assured that by reporting online in a non-emergency, the information you provide us will be dealt with in exactly the same way as if you were to call us - and you won't have to wait."

You can report non-emergencies to us here: https://orlo.uk/Asz3Z

Average 101 wait times for most forces have been published on the https://orlo.uk/QEE5z website.