101 Non-Emergency


In 2011 the police introduced a non-emergency number, 101, to replace local police station numbers and cut the number of 999 calls by diverting non-urgent calls away from the main force control room.

What many people won’t realise however is that it costs a 15p flat fee for your network provider to connect you, whereas calls to 999 are completely free. Worst of all the money goes directly to your provider and the police receive no income from calls to 101 to help fund your local force.

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 accident, or
• you want to give the police information about crime in your area