STAFF at Huddersfield Police Station are ranked among the four least helpful in West Yorkshire, a report claimed today.
The report, to be discussed at a meeting of the West Yorkshire Police's Community Engagement Committee next week, states customer satisfaction across the county is almost 10% below the target set for the year.
The report focuses on the kind of service people get when they visit the front desk of a police station.
It takes into account everything from waiting times to the helpfulness of the staff.
Front counter staff at Huddersfield, Calderdale and Bradford North and South are the ones singled out as the worst when it comes to dealing with the public.
The target for customer satisfaction for the 2003-2004 period was 87.3% across West Yorkshire.
Early estimations suggest the actual level of satisfaction will be much lower at around 77.7%.
Clr Ian Rutter (Lib Dem, Crosland Moor), a member of the West Yorkshire Police Authority, says customer satisfaction is something that needs to be focused on but in the past it has been neglected.
He said: "I think like so many other public service providers in the past we didn't fully underst- and how important getting the front desk contact with the public absolutely right could be.
"A bad experience during that initial contact with the police could cause a lot of damage to the force.
"We know the best way to beat crime is with the help of the public.
"To do that we need to deal with them efficiently at every point of contact to make sure they are willing to support us.
"We do have a lot of dedicated staff and the training they now receive will help them give the best possible service when they come in contact with members of the public.
"Working on the front desk is a high pressure job and one that takes a lot of skill to make sure people are happy with the service. However I think that now we have identified the need for changes things will improve and over the next few years I can certainly see the targets being met."
