Emergency 999 call handlers managed to save a woman in danger despite her living 3,000 miles away after she contacted the wrong Durham police.
An intruder was breaking into her home as the distraught woman typed ‘I need help, he is going to come, he is in the house’ before falling silent.
She had used the online Live Chat facility offered by Durham Constabulary in the North East of England, despite living in Durham, Canada.
Realising she meant to contact a different force, the calm call handler kept the chat open, while Control Room colleagues contacted officers at Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario.
Canadian officers were sent to the scene in the town of Ajax and found a 35-year-old man inside the woman’s house.
The suspect fled but was eventually cornered in a nearby yard where he refused to obey officers’ requests and during the altercation was tasered.
He was then arrested, approximately 30 minutes after his victim first contacted police in England.
His rescued victim received medical attention for her injuries, while her attacker has been charged with a string of offences including breaking and entering, assault, forcible confinement and disobeying a lawful order of court.
Inspector Andrea Arthur, head of the UK Durham force control room, said: ‘This was an unusual incident and a very distressing situation for the victim, but the team remained calm and managed to help our Canadian colleagues resolve the situation quickly and professionally.
‘If we can assist in rescuing a vulnerable victim in immediate danger, regardless of where they live, we will do all we can to help.
‘In this case, we’re glad to learn there has been an arrest and, more importantly, the victim is out of danger and receiving the help she needs.
‘Our call handlers deal with hundreds of contacts from members of the public each day, some of them more straightforward than others, and always do their best to serve the public, wherever they may be.’
Inspector Paul Hallett, from Canada’s Durham Regional Police, added: ‘This is certainly a success story of international cooperation between two police communication centres separated by tremendous distance.
‘We are grateful for the assistance of our Durham Constabulary colleagues in ensuring we received this critical information, making it possible for our Durham Regional Police Service communicators to provide this caller with the timely emergency police response they required.’
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