‘I’ll laugh or cry at the end of each day, but I’ll know I’ve made a difference’: Life as a police call handler

HELPING OTHERS: Hendrik James

Humberside Police contact officer Hendrik James spoke to Rick Lyon about the highs and lows of being the voice on the other end of the phone when people call for help

Hendrik James had only been in the job a few months when he received a call from a distressed young woman.

She told him she was sitting on a railway bridge, and she intended to kill herself.

It was the first potentially life or death emergency call Hendrik had taken since becoming a Humberside Police call handler, or ‘contact officer’.

He was inexperienced, but he had his training to fall back on.

Hendrik calmly kept the woman talking on the phone long enough to transfer her to a more senior colleague, who was able to dispatch officers to the scene.

The incident was eventually resolved without the woman coming to any harm. Hendrik had played a significant role in saving her life.

This is just one of the many hundreds of cases he has dealt with since taking on what he says is the perfect job for him.

“I just love the variety,” he says. “I never know what’s going to be on the end of the phone when I answer.

“I can get calls that are going to make me cry, or ones that are going to make me fall over laughing when I’ve finished my shift.

“Knowing that each shift is going to be different means you’re never going to be bored working here, at all.

PERFECT POSITION: Humberside Police contact officer Hendrik James

“It can be hard, with some of the things we have to deal with, but the good you can do makes it all worth it.

“There hasn’t been a single day when I’ve woken up and thought I didn’t want to go to work, because I love the job.”

Hendrik had always wanted to be a frontline police officer, but his cerebral palsy, which has seen him suffer two brain haemorrhages and undergo 27 surgeries, meant that was not possible.

Being a call handler is the next best thing for him though, as it still enables him to help others in need.

“I’ve been in and out of hospital since I was seven-years-old, so I’ve had a lot of help and support from the NHS throughout my life,” he says.

“I think that, after seeing the lengths some people will go to in order to help others, I wanted to do something similar.

“I’m too squeamish to deal with blood, so for me becoming a frontline police officer was a dream. My condition affects my balance, so that wasn’t going to be possible, but this is definitely the next best thing.

“I like the idea that I’m helping people. I feel like I’m actively making a difference.

“I can be that calming voice on the other end of the phone when someone is in distress, and I can get them the support they need.

“There’s real job satisfaction in that.”

Henrik joined the force on the main switchboard just over a year ago, and moved to the call centre last November, where he takes emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 calls for assistance from the public.

DEMAND: Humberside Police receive an average of 23,500 999 and 101 calls a month

It is his job to quickly assess the level of support required. He is able to 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,” says Hendrik.

“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.

“It’s about knowing which services do what, how they can help, and how to refer a caller to the correct service, as well as being able to provide police support when required.

“I deal with issues that are happening in the moment, rather than issues such as a burglary that has happened overnight.

“I could get a call about an ongoing neighbour dispute that’s starting to get heated, so need to be able to decide if that’s a police or a council matter.

“If it’s a police matter, I create a log and send it to the dispatchers, who decide on the response.”

In such circumstances, speed is essential.

Hendrik recently took a call reporting a man was holding a knife to his partner’s throat. It took just 41 seconds for Hendrik to ascertain the key information, create a log and send that to the dispatch team, who immediately sent officers to the scene.

Humberside Police receive an average of 23,500 emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 calls each month. Of those, 93 per cent of 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds and 76 per cent of 101 calls are answered within 30 seconds – which are among the best responses of any force in the country.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Hendrik James says he loves his job

One major frustration for Hendrik and the team is the number of calls they receive for issues that don’t require police action, as well as deliberate nuisance calls that are a strain on resources.

“We had a woman call up recently to report that her washing machine wasn’t working,” says Hendrik. “She said she couldn’t get hold of an emergency plumber and couldn’t do her washing, so she called us.

“I also had a call a few months ago from a guy who wanted to report his housemate for stealing his bacon. They shared a fridge and he said his housemate had eaten his bacon and was refusing to replace it, so he wanted to report it as a theft.

“One regular complaint we get on a Friday or Saturday night is people in drink ringing up to say their taxi hasn’t turned up. That’s clearly a civil issue, not a police matter.

“It can be frustrating, but we also get a lot of regular calls from people with mental health conditions. I just remind myself that I don’t know what that person on the other end of the phone is going through and try to be as supportive and helpful as possible.”

It is the calls like those from the woman on the railway bridge, and being able to help, that make the frustrations worthwhile, says Hendrik.

“Some calls can be distressing, but the people I work with are like a second family to me and there will always be someone in the team who has taken a similar call, so that support is there,” he says. “They will know how you’re feeling and it’s a real team effort.

“And yes, calls like that make it all worthwhile.

“The woman who called from the bridge was OK in the end and I helped play a part in that.

“Things like that stay with you forever.”