Сообщество обвинило полицию Шотландии в непригодности службы 101 из-за рекордных очередей

A community group has called Police Scotland's 101 service "radically unfit for purpose" due to long wait times for calls to be answered. Merchant City and Trongate Community Council (MCTCC) says more than 40% of people who called the force's non-emergency line are hanging up because of delays in their call being answered. MCTCC submitted a Freedom of Information request (FOI) to police after receiving complaints from local residents who have tried to report crimes. They found callers regularly wait well over an hour, with the longest recorded wait time on 101 this year being more than two hours and 14 minutes in June. READ NEXT: - Glasgow dealer who forced boy to hand out drug testers and stay in dirty den JAILED - Tollcross brute choked ex-girlfriends and controlled their social media - Three more arrested after Celtic v Rangers disorder as total reaches 43 In four other months between January and July, the figure was almost or more than an hour and a half. An MCTCC spokesperson said: "Police officers themselves speak openly about how poor 101 is - and the problem is getting worse, "Well-meaning people are ringing 101 to report a suspected crime but slamming down the phone in frustration. "By the time they get an answer, it’s almost certain the suspects have moved on." MCTCC says official Police Scotland statistics show the percentage of discontinued calls increased from an average of 30.5% between January and May to well over 42% in June and July. A Police Scotland spokesperson said discontinued called can be due to someone being instructed to hang up and call 999, the person has decided to redial and select another option, or they have realised they should be calling another agency. READ NEXT: - Detectives call on locals to check Ring Doorbells after 'numerous' incidents - Thug who threatened to stab juror after murder bid conviction handed extra jail term - 1 every 18 hours- new rape figures for Glasgow revealed It said a total of 480 full-time equivalent staff are employed on the 101 and 999 emergency calls services, and staffing was not recorded separately. The group is now calling for an urgent increase in staffing and technology. The spokesperson continued: "Call volumes to the non-emergency numbers are huge - as many as 100,000 a month - so it’s a huge task but this is being dangerously under-resourced. "It’s usually apparent if there’s a real emergency but there’s an understandable tendency among the public not to want to bother the emergency services if they’re not sure. "Police work hard to keep people and property safe and deserve much more central support, including better technology. "These statistics are shocking and deteriorating. "The service is patently radically unfit for purpose. It needs an urgent overhaul." The spokesperson said at a joint meeting last month, other community councils in the city centre had reported similar concerns. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Public safety is our priority, and we continue to closely monitor emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 call response. "There is a high demand on these services and when there is a surge in emergency 999 calls, these are prioritised to be answered in under 10 seconds. "This can impact the average speed of answering a non-emergency 101 call. "Many of the discontinued 101 calls will be cases where callers have been instructed to hang up and dial 999, they have decided to redial and select another option from a pre-recorded menu, or they have realised they should be calling another agency. "A significant number of both 999 and 101 calls are misdialled, where callers realise and hang up. "Non-urgent issues can also be reported online using the Contact Us form on the Police Scotland website."