Joshua Farey

“I am a multi-skilled operative in the control room, trained to take emergency and non-emergency calls from the public, and to dispatch our officers safely to the scene of an incident. In both roles, assessing the threat, harm and risk relating to the incident reported is the number one responsibility, ensuring the most serious incidents are deployed first.

“I usually leave the house at 6.00 am and aim to be stationed ready to take my first call for 6.45 am. This call can be anything from a report of an overnight burglary just discovered or multi-vehicle road traffic collision with people trapped and serious injury.

“Throughout the day I will complete a number of tasks which will include processing reports received online, risk assessing the information and if appropriate, contacting the person to advise them of the next steps and to offer safety advice.

“I may be updating the police national computer on missing persons or checking requests for support or assistance from other partner agencies or other forces, all of which need risk assessing and actioning in the same way a telephone report would.

“My dad worked for the police for 20 years and growing up I was always fascinated by the work he did. After the building society I worked for started closing branches in the area, I decided I wanted to do join the police family and eagerly waited for the next intake. The rest is history!

“When the vacancy came up, I couldn’t wait to apply. I knew I could be the calming voice at the end of the phone just as he was for so many people and for so many years.

“It can be really challenging, but also very rewarding. No matter how traumatic, horrifying, mind boggling, and emotive that last call was, I played my part in sending help to somebody who may well be having the worst day of their life.

“As a call handler, you can be faced with some really emotive situations. You can hear things that can be quite traumatic. You have to be able to detach yourself and remind yourself that if you hadn’t taken that call you wouldn’t have been able to get help to that person. But we’re only human and occasionally a specific job you’ve dealt with can play on your mind.

“I used to find it really difficult to handle abusive or obstructive callers. One call could dampen my spirit for the entire shift. Now, through my experience, I have learnt to manage these types of calls through confidence, clear communication and empathy.

“I believe the FCR is the beating heart of the force. We are usually the first person a victim will have contact with. That victim may well be in the midst of a truly horrific situation and will remember the conversation they have had with the call handler who showed them understanding, reassurance, compassion and kept them calm until officers got to them.

“Since being in this role, I see things in a massively different way! Life is precious, be thankful for what you have and spend as much time with your loved ones as you can.

“I’ve also become more worldly wise. I understand the circumstances some people are in within our county, things I would never have believed or understood before.

“In situations where I may have panicked before - my job has taught me to stay calm, focus, and prioritise what needs to be done in order to resolve the situation.”

Josh’s supervisor, Rebecca Sturman said: “Josh is an exceptional member of the FCR team. Josh brings a vibrant personality to the job, which rubs off on his colleagues around him. He provides support and empathy to his peers whilst giving them advice and support where needed. He is a highly skilled member of the team and an asset to the organisation.”

Find out more

To find out more about a role in the Force Control Room and to view all our current vacancies, please use the links below.