Abu Sayid Miah
My name is Abu Sayid Miah. I work in the FCR.
You take all sorts of calls; no day is the same. So, everyday is different, which is good about this job.
So, we’re talking about a call I’ve taken that I’ve been particularly proud of. There was one I took. It actually started off as your ‘dropped nines’ call. That basically means somebody has called, called the emergency line, and it’s dropped off. So, whenever someone calls the emergency line, we have to call it back to confirm welfare. So, I called it back and it seemed like a regular ‘pocket dial’ like a ‘dropped nines’ call. It was a bloke who picked up, he said ‘yeah, everything’s fine, there’s no issues’, and I was like ‘ok’, just a typical dropped nines, ‘ok, sorry to bother you, here’s your incident number, goodbye, have a good night’. As we were putting the phone down, I heard a very faint like a sound in the background [sharp intake of breath] like that, and it just made me think, ok something doesn’t feel right now, and we eventually deployed to this incident. So, we got there, and it turned out it was a domestic issue, so I felt particularly proud of that because if I’d missed that slight sound at the end, it could have gone a really different way I think. That’s probably my proudest moment, my biggest achievement on the force anyway.
The thing I find hard to deal with sometimes is calls that involve children. I find those quite difficult because I’ve got a daughter myself. So, whenever I hear anything to do with kids or anything untoward towards children, it does sort of affect me sometimes.
If as a call handler, if you’re not in a good place and you’re taking that call, it can bleed over. Your attitude affects the caller generally. So, I’ve taken calls where the person has been frustrated and angry, and they may even swear at me during the call at the start. They’re going through a tough time right now so I’ll let them vent and then just bring the situation down a bit and then we can carry on with the conversation, but you have to be as calm and collected as you can.
Before joining the force, I would sometimes be along those groups who, I would say ‘ah, why can’t the police do that?’ or, you know, ‘why can’t they do this or do they or whatnot?’, I used to be like that. Since joining the police though, I now realise how restricted and how much work Northants Police do as well. In the control room, we get all sorts of calls like I’ve said before, and, no joke, I’ve had calls from people who say there’s a bin on fire, and I have said to them ‘have you called the fire department?’. They go ‘no’, and I say ‘well, you need to call the fire department, this is a fire issue’. Same with ambulance calls, we’ve had people say ‘someone’s on the floor, they don’t look too well’ and I’ll be like that’s an ambulance call. We get called for absolutely everything. Northants Police is overstretched. I see that now, and I see how hard the officers are working, and, like again, don’t judge a book by its cover I think is a great line because I used to judge the police before joining the police. Now I’ve joined the police, now I know what goes on and, yeah, it’s changed my outlook. Much respect.
Meet Abu Sayid Miah, one of our Force Control Room Operatives who has been with the Force for almost two years.
“My role involves answering calls from the public. I risk assess every call I receive, create incident reports and get them sent up for officer dispatch.
“A typical day for me varies. Our shifts consist of four shifts on, two day shifts and two night shifts, followed by four days off – known as four on, four off. These are 12-hour shifts from 0700 – 1900 hours and 1900 – 0700 hours. On some days I will be taking emergency and non-emergency calls. Other days I will be doing some admin work or processing online crime reports. There is also a live chat service to manage.
“I worked as an Architectural Technologist for the better part of a decade. I was good at the job and progressed through to senior level and managed my own team. However, I always wanted to work in the civil service whether that was with the Fire Service, ambulance, or the Police. Northamptonshire Police Control Room appealed to me the most. It is the first line of contact and I wanted to do my part for the community.
“I’ve always felt a need to work in the public sector. It always gnawed at the back of my mind when I was working in the private sector. Doing something that has a positive effect on the wider community will always provide a sense of accomplishment. Also, if my actions make Northamptonshire a slightly safer place for my daughter to grow up in then it makes it worthwhile.
“What I enjoy most about my work is the people and the variety of calls we receive. Everyday is always different and it is always a challenge.
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“One of the moments I am most proud of in my role is when I made a callback to a phone number as it had dialled 999 and cut off. During the phone call I was talking to a man and everything seemed fine. I advised him that the incident would now be closed as everything was ok. As the man was hanging up, I heard another voice in the background, very brief but it sounded like a whimper or a sniffle. I sent the incident as an emergency for the inspector to review who agreed with me when they listened to the playback. Turns out when the officers got to the location, that the man had been physically abusive to his partner, and he was subsequently arrested.
“There isn’t anything terribly difficult about this role as we are provided with adequate training and ongoing support from our Team Leaders and experienced staff members, but it can be challenging. There are situations where I feel frustrated that we are unable to provide as prompt a service to the non-emergency incidents as we do with emergency calls, but we do have to prioritise recourses.
“One of the other challenges of this role is dealing with mental health related incidents as we are not trained therapists. I find this particularly challenging as this is something I’m not used to dealing with.
“The force control room (FCR) is the first point of contact when anyone calls the Police. The FCR is effectively the face of the organisation. Our role is to remain professional at all times and I believe that this gives a positive look that the public has on the Force as a whole.
“Since working for the police, it has made me realise that I have been living in a bubble my whole life. Northants is not as quaint as I thought it was. Working with the Police has made me more aware of potential dangers in the public space.
“The FCR is a fast paced environment, and it has helped me develop my typing skills as well as my analytical skills and has made me more risk aware. I am looking to take a more active role in the force in the future. I have applied for the Specials in hope of one day joining the regulars. This will help to increase my skills further and fulfil my desire to give back to the community and make it safer.
Abu’s supervisor Rebecca Sturman, said: “Abu is a very competent staff member who has recently started to really flourish within his role as a Call Handler. He has an exceptionally polite and calming manner when speaking to the public, with the ability to be direct and stern when required.
“Abu is patient with his colleagues, educating them where necessary in his religious beliefs, and having open, honest, and healthy conversations about his culture. This has had a hugely positive impact on the team, encouraging them to be considerate and inclusive at every opportunity.”
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