The woman driven into by police in a hit-and-run crash was left on hold for more than two and half hours when she tried to report it.
Her 101 call to the police control room was placed in a queue before she could tell the operators how her Audi A1 had been hit from behind by a marked police BMW X5 patrol vehicle.
Its driver PC Karl Warren failed to stop after the 50mph collision on the A146 at Barnby, between Beccles and Lowestoft.
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Criminal charges against the roads policing and firearms officer were later dropped after he said he had no recollection of the crash on March 5 last year.
He will also not face misconduct charges after medical evidence was presented that he was suffering from amnesia at the time.
The delay in responding to the 101 call from the 34-year-old Audi driver, who is from Norwich and has asked not to be named, was “not acceptable”, police have admitted.
An investigation by Norfolk and Suffolk police professional standards department found it took Suffolk control room two hours 33 minutes and four seconds to respond to the 101 call.
“This is an inordinate amount of time on hold,” said investigating officer Det Chief Inspector James Brown in the official police report into the case - which has been seen by this newspaper.
The service provided to the woman “was not acceptable”, he added.
HOW DID 101 DELAY AFFECT INVESTIGATION?
The hit-and-run collision and its aftermath has seen Norfolk Constabulary come in for heavy criticism with the scandal prompting outrage from members of the public and former Norfolk police officers since this newspaper revealed it earlier this month.
The delay in responding to the 101 call and adding information to police systems raises questions about when senior officers became aware that a collision involving a police vehicle had occurred and that its driver had failed to stop.
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According to the police report PC Warren was first challenged about his actions the day after the crash after another officer, PC Ryan Hargrave - who was a passenger in the BMW at the time - emailed a sergeant to report the incident.
Sgt Damien Minnis, who is based at Wymondham, told investigators he had then immediately contacted PC Warren to request he meet him at Acle police station.
However it has emerged that his body-worn camera footage of that meeting was not saved because it was marked as “non-evidential”.
WHAT HAVE POLICE SAID ABOUT 101 CALL DELAY?
The public is urged to use 101 when reporting non-emergency crimes, including road traffic collisions, but it has proved contentious with callers frequently frustrated at being placed on hold for lengthy periods.
A Suffolk Constabulary spokesman said: “The call waiting time in this case was unacceptable and we’re sorry this happened.
“The constabulary receives a high demand of calls to this service that is designated for non-urgent issues only.
“On average over 1,000 calls are made each day to our 101 and 999 numbers in total. These are prioritised and triaged based on threat, harm and risk.”
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The 101 service in Suffolk has previously come under fire with an average response time of 15 minutes for calls to be answered.
Tim Passmore, Suffolk police and crime commissioner, said work to improve the 101 call taking and answering capacity was under way.
Between March 2022 and May this year 25 extra call handling staff have been recruited with a further 40 planned by September.
"We want to reassure people of what we are doing, we hold these meetings every month to make sure progress is being made, and to hold the constabulary to account to do that,” said Mr Passmore.
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