Non-urgent '111' line proposed

A top-level police meeting will today debate separating the vital 111 emergency service from a new number for people's calls that are not life-threatening or urgent.
It follows the release of a damning review this year into communications centres, which found the system was so bad it risked the safety of the public, police and call-takers.

Options from today's meeting in Christchurch will help to form proposals for improving the system due to be presented to Police Commissioner Rob Robinson next month.

Establishing a telephone number for non-urgent 111 calls was a core recommendation of the review, led by New South Wales police chief Superintendent Mike Corboy.

The review was sparked by the disappearance of Iraena Asher at Piha last year. Police sent a taxi instead of a patrol car to her emergency call. She is now believed dead.

After the Corboy report was released in May with 61 recommendations for change, Police Minister George Hawkins and Mr Robinson withstood calls from opposition political parties to resign.

The Government instead pumped $45.5 million into rebuilding the centre's capability over four years.

Frontline police told the Herald the inquiry actually came as a relief. They had warned police bosses for years that failings in the system posed a risk to the public and officers because of structural problems, a lack of staff and resourcing shortfalls.

That has been confirmed by Mr Corboy, who said from Sydney yesterday that his team had spoken to many police officers on a confidential basis.

"They did indicate they were very relieved. The last thing that any police department wants is for the public not to have confidence in their emergency call number.

"It was on the edge of that."

He said the service had not toppled over the edge, although there was noticeable emotion round certain cases.

Mr Corboy, who has studied police communications systems in the United States, Canada and Britain, said 111 should be kept for emergency or life-threatening incidents.

Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald, the national communications centre manager - a role created because of the review - said yesterday that setting up a number for non-urgent calls would be discussed by a meeting of the national communication centre advisory board. But he could not discuss details before the board was advised today.

He said 25 to 30 new staff were in communications centres since the review reported in May, and by December there would be about 70, taking total staff numbers to 420. More recruits were planned.

Mr Fitzgerald said he believed that was enough. The ability to meet performance targets for answering 111 calls had picked up significantly since March, although there were still problems with responding to incidents, including in rural areas.

Police understood callers' "anguish" when they dialled 111 and wanted immediate help, he said. Officers would get there as soon as they could and as safely as they could.

Mr Hawkins said after the Corboy review was completed that Mr Robinson had approached the Government with four options for funding. The Government had agreed to the largest sum asked for.