Failed 111 calls spark police review

Barry Lloyd called the emergency line three times to report suspicious activity. Photo / File

Police also apologise to caller and dairy owner for the error

A review of how Northland police responded to three 111 calls before a dairy was robbed could change the way police deal with emergency calls and dispatch officers to jobs.

Whangarei police have this week apologised to a man who rang 111 three times to report suspicious characters in a car three times just before the dairy was robbed. They have also apologised to the dairy owner.

Northland Police District Commander Superintendent Russell Le Prou said police had reviewed their response to calls made by Barry Lloyd regarding suspicious behaviour prior to the aggravated robbery of the Ye Korner Dairy and Takeaways on Crawford Cr in Kamo.

Mr Le Prou said they had found a police unit was not dispatched and police were now reviewing processes to avoid this happening in the future.

He confirmed the staff member concerned, who was based at the Northern Communications Centre in Auckland, had also undergone a professional review of their handling of the incident.

Spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said the review of the processes would take a further two weeks and if there were improvements that could be made they would be implemented on a national level.

All 111 calls are received by the police Northern Communication Centre based in Auckland which in turn contacts and dispatches Northland officers to jobs.

Kamo man Barry Lloyd was disappointed his three calls to 111 were not acted upon promptly after he spotted a suspicious vehicle with five men wearing dark-coloured hoodies near the Ye Korner Dairy. He was unable to give police a car registration number.

Three masked robbers armed with a metal bar and a knife ran into the dairy about 1.50pm on Sunday, August 24. One of the men, dressed in black, dived across the counter and struck the dairy manager on the head with an iron bar as he tried to protect his wife and 4-year-old son. It is the second time the business has been robbed this year - no arrests have yet been made over either robbery.

On Monday Mr Lloyd and the dairy owner were both visited by a senior police detective working on the robbery, who apologised for the way the incident was dealt with by police.

Mr Lloyd said there was still no closure, no one has been found yet for the robbery.

The dairy owner said he accepted the police apology and had been reassured police were "working hard on this case".

Police receive almost 1.8 million 111 calls a year and strive to maintain a very high level of service to the public.

Mr Le Prou said police were disappointed their service did not meet the high standards both police and the public expect.

" ... we are now reviewing our processes to avoid this happening in the future," Mr Le Prou said. "We have since met with the victim and the person who made the 111 calls to ... apologise for our error. The clear intent of Northland police is that suspicious behaviour such as this has a high priority and whenever possible we will deploy to these events ... we continue to encourage the public to report suspicious activity so we can act immediately."

• Whangarei police are still seeking information from the public so anyone with information can contact the police or, if they want to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.