New 999 call centre will lead to better service - Chief Supt

A person making a 999 call to Gardaí will now be put through to a new regional call centre as part of ongoing policing reforms.

At the recent meeting of Westmeath Joint Policing Committee (JPC), Chief Superintendent John Dollard informed members that An Garda Síochána has established four regional CAD (Computer Aided Designation) Centres to deal with emergency calls from the public.

Chief Supt Dollard explained that a pilot scheme was set up set up earlier this month.

“If you phone your local garda station and you look for a service the person that answers your call will take you details, such as your phone number and name, and transfer you to the regional call centre. That regional call centre will push the car out or [make] the appropriate response to your call.

“I know some people will find it a bit hard because they like dealing with their local guards but as an organisation the way we can best deal with people's needs for services is through a more robust process.

“This is an interim [measure]. It won't last terribly long. Within the next two or so months we will move into the full CAD project. As police managers it will give us great management information in terms of where the issues are and what type of service people are getting.

“It will give us very rich data in terms of response times...The system that we have is the guts of 30 or 40 years. It's built on very old computer architecture.

“Ultimately its is part of the reforms and will lead to a better service.”