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Meet Joanna Smith, one of our Enquiry Desk Officers, who has been with Northamptonshire Police for nine and a half years.
“The front counter can be the first contact that a member of the public has ever had with Northamptonshire Police. Our responsibility is to act as a filter for the force and effectively pull out what does and does not need to be sent to officers or the Force Control Room.
“Often the public demand to see an officer when they attend the front counter. Very often this is unnecessary, and our responsibility is to liaise with them to find out what information they want to pass on or require from us. This means we save time for officers who can focus on the priority incidents or crime.
“Our role and responsibilities are varied from recording incidents and ensuring that members of the public are signposted appropriately to immigration or sexual offender registrations. We also deal with car seizures, reports of crime, vehicle releases, property returns, requests for crime updates, intelligence reports, found property, wanted people handing themselves in, people answering bail, firearms, ammunition surrender and much more!
“Mental health features in most of our days with members of the public seeking reassurance or experiencing mental health episodes or dementia. In this instance we signpost and bring to the attention of our Repeat Demand Officer who can ensure appropriate safeguarding.
“In this role, we do inevitably have to deal with face-to-face aggression, frustration, and distress on a daily basis for a variety of reasons. Diffusing behaviours and managing expectations forms a large part of our day. We can never predict what will come through our doors.
“A key aspect of this role is to de-escalate. It can be very frustrating when you are empathising with a member of the public but unable to help them to the extent that they think you should.
“I personally enjoy turning a situation around, especially when someone has come to us with a very negative attitude and walks away feeling listened to and more confident about the police. People very often come with a specific view so turning this around is very satisfying.
“A particular interaction that had a significant impact on me involved a day when we were facing a lot of customers displaying aggression and abuse. I was training a new colleague and we were short staffed. I observed a lady come in and out looking distressed, and she eventually joined the queue. When she reached the front of the queue, she broke down in tears and asked for privacy.
“My new colleague and I went into a room with the lady who was so distressed, she initially was unable to speak. After reassuring her and giving her time to compose herself I explained that I was not a trained officer and that my role was to take the initial skeleton of her report.
"She went on to report some serious issues. I documented everything she said which took over two and a half hours. At the end she thanked us and said that we had made something so difficult easier than she had anticipated and she was happy with what the next steps would be. This experience had a profound experience on me.
“It can be frustrating in this role, as we can sometimes be seen as a reception desk. And as we are police staff, we do not have the level of training or equipment police officers have. However, we use our skills of communication and knowledge of the force to continue to help those who come to the enquiry desk.
“Since working for the police, I have a wider understanding of the pressures that the force is under. I never realised the lack of resources. I also have a lot of empathy for the public reporting crime as I appreciate that the system can seem obstructive and lengthy.
“Since working in this role, my communication skills have improved and I am more mindful of my pitch and tone of voice as being face-to-face I have one chance to get my delivery right when someone comes who might be aggressive, distressed, confused, vulnerable or simply English may not be their first language.”
To find out more about an Enquiry Desk role and to view all our current vacancies, please use the link below.