Q3 2021: Average Police Report Turnaround Times

As almost each force operates independently, the time in which it takes them to fulfil a request related to a collision report can vary just as much.

With thousands of unique requests made for collision reports in the last quarter, we have collated this data to analyse the efficiency and turnaround times for each police force within the UK.

Something which must always be considered is how quickly a police report is requested after an incident. Police forces have six months to investigate collisions and come to any decisions about potential prosecutions. A police report cannot be disclosed until the matter has been passed through any courts, whether Magistrates, Crown, or HM Coroner. As a result, for a fatal collision report, you may be looking at between 12 and 18 months’ wait for a police report to be available – something which may be further delayed due to the pandemic.

As such, given that our statistics are based on average fulfilment times we are aware that they may not be accurate at all times. However, we will endeavour to improve our reporting over time, the data will also improve as we make more requests.

Of all outstanding requests at present, the police force which is taking the longest to fulfil requests for collision reports is Lancashire, taking almost three months to complete a request, on average.

We have contacted every police force in the UK to confirm their turnaround times at present. Many are reporting delays of several months due to an increased workload or changes in circumstances due to the pandemic. Of particular note, Essex Police state that they currently have delays of up to five months in fulfilling requests.

The police force with the most cases outstanding over 11 weeks after being requested is Greater Manchester Police, with 34.5% of cases which are awaiting fulfilment. Behind them is the Metropolitan Pollice, for whom 20.5% of open cases were requested nearly three months ago and are yet to be fulfilled.

Of all cases outstanding at present, 22% of cases across a multitude of forces have been outstanding for over two months and continue to be chased.

At the other end of the spectrum, the fastest turnaround average at present is by Merseyside, who fulfil requests in an average of eight working days. Not far behind are Norfolk Police and Leicestershire Police, averaging nine working days each to fulfil a request.

Furthermore, some police force turnaround times may be quicker if they do not allow a police report to be requested in anticipation of it being available – which may skew their fulfilment times. One such example of this is Norfolk Police, who do not allow a request to be made for a police report in anticipation of it being available; this makes their turnaround time far quicker once the full request has been made to them. Additional forces that adopt this policy include Suffolk, Thames Valley, and Kent.

If you are interested in the specific turnaround times of each police force, please download our full Q3 statistics sheet below.

For more information on Rapid Police Reports please email us at enquiries@netwatchglobal.com or read more HERE.