Greater Manchester Police believe they may be the first force in the country to allow staff to take 101 calls at home. Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said last week that around a fifth of his force are self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He admitted call-handlers will be faced with tough choices over which calls to prioritise and suggested that officers would be 'stricter' about which crimes to investigate.
But today GMP announced the situation will improve as a handful of staff have been permitted to take 101 calls and answer Live Chat queries from home.
In a press release, the force said the move was partly enabled by the much-criticised IT system iOps installed last year. There are currently just over 20 call handlers that have