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MPA21Over the last two years there has been an increase in the numberof calls made on the emergency 999 telephone number from mobiletelephones where there is nobody on the line requesting any of theemergency services. Typically these were accidental calls originatingwhen the mobile was in someone’s pocket or bag, so unnoticed bythe user. By June 2001 these calls accounted for a quarter of allemergency calls received. These calls are now still answered by theoperator, but instead of being routed to New Scotland Yard, they areforwarded to an “automatic attendant” on a back up system. Thecall is then validated and only genuine calls are routed to be answered.The system went live nationally in October 2001 and now processesup to 22,000 calls a day on behalf of all emergency servicesthroughout the UK.Urgent incidentsThere was a continuation of the gradual reduction in the percentageof urgent incidents attended within 12 minutes, and the year’sperformance was 7.5% below the target.HomicideIndicator2000/01PerformancePerformance Target for 2001/022001/02PerformancePPThe percentage of homicidescleared up89.9%To achieve a clear up rate of 90%72.8%The target was not achieved because of a number offactors including:■ there has been an increase in the number of homicides thisyear (particularly Afro-Caribbean) which stretched resources■ committed resources to the post September 11 events■ the measures introduced by Section 51 Crime & Disorder Act,to reduce the delays in indictable cases reaching Crown Courtimpacted on the time available to prepare casesAction towards reaching the targets include:■ the introduction of Murder Suppression Teams■ continued targeting of violent criminals through Operation Trident(see page 6)■ implementation of the Forensic Science Strategy to build upresources and expertise in support of serious crime investigation■ rollout of HOLMES2 (Home Office Large Major Enquiry System)MPA/MPS annual report 2001/02