Response In Focus: Police emergency? You decide…

The blare of police sirens parting traffic on West Midlands’ streets is the most recognisable aspect of Response Policing - but officers only hit the blues-and-twos button when en route to emergency incidents or ones graded an ‘immediate response’.

It’s one of three classifications used by police forces to prioritise jobs, rank the seriousness of calls, and determine how quickly officers need to reach the scene. 

Call handlers have to make split-second decisions about what constitute