What about answering calls at the police station?

Recently, our portal described the case of a Reader, a resident of Nowogrodziec municipality, who on Saturday, June 9, wanted to ask police officers from Bolesławiec to check a bus on which children were travelling on a trip. He called 997 three times but could not get through. (We reported on this in detail in the article: https://istotne.pl/boleslawiec/wiadomosc/WTn/trzy-razy-dzwonil-na-policje-i-sie-nie-dodzwonil).

Several days after the publication of that article, a colleague from our editorial team faced two emergency situations: once he caught thieves, and the second time—without going into detail—he himself could have been harmed. Fortunately, he emerged from the incident unscathed. In both cases, he tried calling 997. Without success.

Only when he called the direct landline number of the duty officer at the Bolesławiec District Police Headquarters did a police officer answer the phone.

We wondered what this resulted from. In private conversations, police officers had told us that some calls simply go unanswered in the duty room in Bolesławiec…

We asked the press office of the Lower Silesian Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław for comment. Asp. szt. Paweł Petrykowski, spokesperson for the Provincial Police Headquarters:

In response to your question, I inform you that the duty service at the Bolesławiec police headquarters accepts incoming calls both on the headquarters’ direct number and on the emergency number 997. An analysis of calls shows that from July 1 to 15 this year alone, the duty service answered a total of 688 incoming calls to the emergency number 997.

The duty officer handling the 997 number simultaneously coordinates the work of police officers throughout the entire county, carrying out a range of tasks in this regard.

The police officer added:

Nevertheless, we thank you for the information provided. We would like to assure you that the District Police Commander in Bolesławiec has already implemented appropriate measures to supervise and improve the performance of duties by the duty service of this unit, including the handling of calls from number 997.

From December, the 997 number will be taken over by WCPR. We have also reported on this in our pages. The task of the Centre’s large number of operators will be exclusively to accept reports and forward cases to the appropriate services and units.