Life in the Control Room: Chris Hughes
Contact management operator Chris Hughes has been in the job since 2022 and finds the role rewarding. He wanted a career where he is able to help make a difference and move the needle in a positive direction.
This is his story.
“I was stacking shelves at a supermarket before I joined the Force Control Room as a contact management operator. I’ve been working here for a year and a half now and I love this job.
My old job was soul-crushing. I was miserable, and at the end of the day and I didn’t feel like I did anything different in the world. Someone told me about this role a couple of months before I was made redundant, and at first, I wasn’t sure about applying because it was working for the police, and it was all a bit daunting. In the end, I thought, I’ll shoot my shot and see what happens. Now, here we are!
I thought we’d be working in complete silence and that you’d be expected to know everything, but it’s very different to what I thought it would be. Everything is open. You’re encouraged to ask questions and advice. You’re not expected to know everything and as long as you know the basics and keep your training in mind, you can do the job.
There’s no judgment and you’re not isolated at any point. In here, you can see the change in someone’s demeanour instantly if someone has taken a difficult call. Everyone is very friendly, and we all support each other through the good calls and the bad.
As a contact management operator, I always think of my role as me opening a window to a lot of noise, trying to figure out where it’s coming from, how I can help and once it’s done, closing the window again. I also help to tutor other contact management operators and that really helped to increase my confidence in the job.
We are the voice on the other end of the phone. We offer advice and support and we either help members of the public by sending officers to them or pointing them in the right direction to get the help they need.
You can be taking up to 20-30 calls a day and you will be dealing with people who may have a heightened sense of emotion and for most of them, whatever they’re calling about will be the biggest thing to them at the time and you have to be prepared to deal with that call then the next.
Some of the calls that you get can be horrible and at times you feel helpless because we can’t physically be there with someone to either break up a fight or diffuse it. All we can do is keep people on the line, help them in the best way we can, do the admin work needed and then prepare yourself so you can help the next person who may be in distress.
Sometimes it can be too much. But I know when it gets tough, I can take a break and talk to colleagues, my supervisor and they can help me get through it.
I like that I can plan ahead with this job. We work shifts of four days on four days off and I don’t mind it. I worked last Christmas and even though I didn’t get to spend it with family, we still did our own thing to celebrate by doing Secret Santa, wearing our Christmas Jumpers and having a potluck. Crime doesn’t stop over Christmas or on any other day. It is the reality of the job.
I also think that it’s a positive thing that we can’t do this job from home. Psychologically, I think it really helps having that separation from work and that I don’t end up dwelling over things like, how I could’ve handled a call better. I use the drive home to think about it all, deal with it and then I forget about it.
This job is so rewarding. I can finish my shift and feel that I’ve moved the needle in a positive direction and that I’ve helped to shine a light in the darkness to help someone in distress. I like to think that even if I’ve only spoken to someone for 10 minutes that people take away there was someone who listened, someone who helped them and someone who helped make their day a bit better. That’s why I do the job.
If you are thinking about joining us, I’d say be ready. Do your research about the role and also be aware that you’re not always going to be taking calls about crime. Some days the calls can be about mundane things like neighbour problems and it’s not like how you see it on TV shows or movies.”