Domestic abuse and burglary victims are waiting for up to 13 hours for ... trends now
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Domestic abuse and burglary victims are left waiting for up to 13 hours for Britain's slowest police force to attend priority calls, figures show.
Police in Birmingham West took 13 and a half hours to respond to priority calls last year, according to data gathered from police forces across the country. Most forces aim to respond within one hour.
These figures relate to Grade 2 priority incidents, which are classed as not having an imminent risk of life. These include crimes such as burglaries, domestic incidents and missing persons cases.
They also include situations where a suspect has been detained at the scene or there's a risk of losing evidence.
The data, obtained through Freedom of Information requests by the Liberal Democrats, shows a 'postcode lottery' of which forces have the longest response time.
A map showing the areas with the longest police waiting times, according to FOI data
Victims in Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, were left waiting nearly 11 hours and those in Reading were left waiting for ten hours and 13 minutes.
Both these areas are covered by Thames Valley Police.
People in Surrey were also left waiting around for a long time, with times reaching seven and a half hours on average in 2022.
