Policing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Policing - Essay Example The agents who have the first contact with the caller should perform a basic risk assessment and find any vulnerability before verifying whether the matter is an incident or inquiry and attempt to resolve the caller’s needs. The staff should ask questions to the caller for an effective assessment of the risk (Deal 2010, p.18). Assessment, identification and prioritization of the risks are involved for effective risk management with the onus of the dispatcher in order to take the recommendable initial response. After taking the initial risk assessment, the incident is then graded on whether it requires emergency or non-emergency response (Deal 2010, p.23). An emergency response includes situations where the reported incident is taking place, and there is or likely to be a danger to life, instant threat of using violence, serious injuries to a person or solemn damage to property. The maximum time required for the police to arrive for the emergency response in urban areas is within 15 minutes while in rural areas is within 20 minutes. The police rely on the first hand information given by the call handler for the direction to the scene where the incident has occurred. For a non-emergency incident, the immediate police response is not required and encompasses many solutions for which officer’s attendance is not required.