Ashley Musgrove
I'm Ashley, I'm a Non-emergency and Emergency call handler for Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
How long have you been working for Cambridgeshire Constabulary?
I've been working for the Constabulary in my current capacity within the Demand Hub for over 6.5 years now.
What do you consider to be the most rewarding part of your job?
We are blessed in our department to be in a position where we can genuinely help and support the public and give back to the community we live in. More often than not, we are the first line of Police contact and that is a privileged position for myself and my colleagues. It presents an important responsibility to represent the Police and for a lot of cases be the voice of the Police and you genuinely get a real sense of being able to help the public in their times of need. For that one moment where you need us, to know we can be the calming voice on the other end of the line is a great privilege which I find very rewarding.
What skills do you think are the most important for someone in your role?
For me, the biggest quality / skill is being passionate about helping and supporting others. I think a huge part of our role is not just to listen but to actually understand the situation and also the impact that situation is having on the caller themselves. They should be listened to so that we can efficiently risk assess and manage the level of impact that is having on that individual person. Somebody who can empathise, is a good listener and good communicator. Who is self-controlled and maintains respect and control and professionalism at all times even when challenged and somebody who can cope in a high intensity and fast paced environment. Somebody who can make sensible proportionate quick decisions and finally, somebody who can work well in a team.
What are your biggest challenges as an emergency call handler?
I think the biggest challenge is workload. Our roles are so varied. We are never just doing one thing. We often have to take overflow 999 calls when taking non-emergency calls or raise electronic crimes at the same time between calls or manning our digital desk as demand is so high.