Police non emergency contact 101

You should call 101 if you want to talk to your local police officer, get crime prevention advice, or report a crime that does not need an emergency response, for example:

• if your car has been stolen
• your property has been damaged
• you suspect drug use or dealing
• you want to report a minor traffic collision, or
• you want to give the police information about crime in your area

101 is being launched to improve public access to the police by giving you a single, easy-to-remember phone number, for when it's less urgent than 999.

When you call 101, you'll hear a recorded message announcing that you're being connected to your local police service centre. The system will determine your location and connect you to a call handler in the service centre for your local area. This ensures staff with local knowledge answer and deal with your call in a way that best meets your needs and the needs of your community.

If you are calling from the boundary between Scotland and England then you may be offered a choice of force to be connected to. If the system cannot locate where you are calling from, then you'll be connected by the operator to the appropriate service centre, where the call will be handled in the normal manner.

Calls to 101 will be prioritised in the same way as calls to existing non-emergency numbers.

If you are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing or speech-impaired then you can access the service via TextRelay on 1 800 1 101.

Service centre operators have access to professional interpreters who can quickly translate if you cannot speak, or have difficulty speaking, English.

From the 1st April 2020, calls to the police 101 non-emergency number are free, no matter how long the call, what time of day it is made or whether it is from a landline or mobile phone.

Most of the previous numbers for local offices and departments are now being phased out. It is best to contact 101 and ask to be put through to the relevant department.

No. 101 is the number to use to contact the police in situations that do not need an immediate response. 999 is still the number to call when an immediate response is needed - when a crime is in progress, when someone suspected of a crime is nearby, when a life is in danger or when violence is being used or threatened.

If you call 101 and it is deemed to be an emergency, or during the call your situation becomes an emergency, service centre staff are fully trained to deal with all emergency and non-emergency situations.

Always dial 999 when an immediate response is needed - when a crime is in progress, when someone suspected of a crime is nearby, when a life is in danger or when violence is being used or threatened.

Yes, 101 is a national service that is also available across England and Wales.

• 101 provides one easy-to-remember number to contact the police anywhere in Scotland
• For the first time there will be a single flat rate charge
• The cost of the call will be transparent to the public and, in many cases, cheaper than current non-emergency numbers
• 101 can potentially reduce pressure on the 999 system, allowing the police to prioritise the most urgent calls for help?