Emergency calls to police using 999 were answered within three seconds in 2024, new data has revealed.

At the Hampshire and Isle of Wight police and crime panel on Friday, January 31, the police and crime commissioner (PCC) Donna Jones revealed how quickly 999 calls were answered on average last year.

The new time of three seconds is a reduction of eight seconds compared to 2023.

Calls to 999 are related to emergencies like an immediate danger to life when someone is using violence or is threatening to be violent or in a road traffic collision where life is at risk.

At the same time, calls made to the police’s non-emergency number 101 were also reduced from nearly 11 minutes in 2023 to three minutes in 2024.

The call abandonment rate on both numbers has also fallen significantly.

Conservative PCC Donna Jones said that over the years, the force has been improving its performance, and now it is among the top three forces answering 101.

She said: “We have gone from being in the bottom of five forces in the country in terms of abandonment rate and answering of 101 to top three, and I think last week we were number two.

“We are doing incredibly well. The staff are much happier now, therefore the turnover of people leaving is reducing as well, which is really good.

“I have to take my hat off to the chief constable and his team for really turning that service around. I mean, yes, I’ve funded all those things, but the chief has stepped up to the plate and done a really good job, so fair play to him.”