Die Einsatzleitzentrale der Polizei Berlin am Platz der Luftbrücke in Berlin-Tempelhof, aufgenommen am 20. September 2019 für MEHR BERLIN. Alle 24 Sekunden läuft hier ein Notruf über die 110 ein. ACHTUNG: Keine Weitergabe an Dritte!!! Im Bild: Ralf Schließer. Foto: Kitty Kleist-Heinrich

Even before Aldi, this man struck him as odd. Standing at the entrance as if he wanted to ask for a euro, but only surreptitiously looked into the shop, where his accomplice was just storing premium coffee beans in two Ikea bags. Seconds later it was clear that Anatol Wiecki was watching a shoplifter. Because he’s not the type to just look the other way, he gave chase.

First it went from the discount store on Maybachufer along the Landwehr Canal to Pannierstraße, there over the bridge to Kreuzberg, then back to Neukölln. Wiecki didn’t give up, pulled out his cell phone and called the police emergency number. But nobody answered 110.

Only after one minute and three seconds did an officer report and record the incident, much too late and “poorly”, as the police later admitted in a letter to Anatol Wiecki.

The self-imposed goal is to answer a call after ten seconds at the latest. The 50-year-old exile from Cologne believes he could have caught the thieves if the police hadn’t put him on hold. When a patrol car crew finally reported to him, the two perpetrators had already disappeared. After all, they had thrown away their loot because of the persistent pursuit along the way.

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At the request of the Tagesspiegel, the police determined how often the emergency call was accepted too late: This year, 301,016 emergency calls were put on hold for longer than ten seconds by mid-August. “This equates to 32 percent of all emergency calls answered.” On average, emergency calls were answered after 16 seconds, a number that has been declining for years. Of a total of 872,871 emergency calls, 37,495 were answered within a time window of 20 to 30 seconds, 105,473, i.e. twelve percent, could only be put through after 30 seconds. One of these was the call from Anatol Wiecki.

The reason for this deficiency is staff shortage. As in any call center, the length of time callers wait in line depends primarily on the number of staff. 266 officers work in shifts at the emergency call center, of which 48 were reported sick as of August 17, which corresponds to a quota of 18 percent. Internally, this is explained by the special burden of the service. There is currently an average of ten officials missing per shift.

The police department is aware that this is an intolerable situation. “The Berlin police are aware of the key role played by the operations control and situation center for the safety of people in the capital.” Most callers are not in acute danger, they want to report an accident, a fight or noise pollution, but with around 300,000 emergency calls on hold, there could also be a serious threat or a seriously injured victim. According to the police, only one person has complained so far this year: Anatol Wiecki.

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After waiting 17 seconds, the 110 caller receives an automatic announcement: “Please wait! Police emergency call Berlin. All emergency lines are busy at the moment, please don’t hang up!” 68,014 callers did just that: hang up. The police, like the fire department, suffer from many unfounded calls, some for fun, some for convenience. Misuse of emergency calls is a criminal offence, but this only applies to serious cases when an accident or a criminal offense is faked. Of the emergency calls this year, the police rated 20,806 as “unjustified”.

From September, the police want to expand their “hospitation program”. Employees from the local directorates are transferred to the emergency call center for one year. 48 colleagues are to be won in this way. In order to curb sick leave, the employees should also be given better psychosocial care, including supervision and coaching offers.

Anatol Wiecki suggests a home office solution: “Each police officer’s private apartment could be converted into an external acceptance point with little effort” – but only in an emergency, because of data protection. Wiecki has done this several times with the emergency call, most recently in 2019. At that time he stayed on the line for nine minutes before the connection broke. He wanted to report an SUV that was in the way of pedestrians.