London: County police departments in Britain are reportedly paying marketing companies nearly one million pounds every year to carry out "customer satisfaction" surveys, a daily has revealed.
Data obtained by a financial services worker under the Freedom of Information Act showed that police are handing over the names of at least 30,000 people every month to assess their response to inquiries such as emergency calls.
Jonathan Hall, from Hove in Sussex, obtained information from 15 police departments in Britain after he was contacted by a marketing group, the Daily Mail reported.
Hall had dialled emergency number 999 after witnessing a fight. He was later called by the Bostock Marketing Group, which asked him how he had been treated by the police.
Over 700,000 pounds was paid last year to two firms - Bostock Marketing Group (BMG) and Swift Research of Leeds.
While London's Metropolitan Police spent 176,000 pounds on opinion surveys in 2010, Surrey Police spent 108,000, Greater Manchester spent 59,000 and Hampshire 66,000.
A Surrey Police spokesman said: "The Home Office requires us to carry out customer satisfaction surveys. Satisfaction levels have risen to 85 percent because we listen to feedback and act on it."
Source: IANS
