Nottinghamshire police urge people not to dial 999 for non-emergency enquiries

This real-life 999 call was recently taken by the Nottinghamshire Police Control Room, with the caller asking for the number for Kent Police.
Nottinghamshire police are appealing for people not to use the 999 phone line with non-emergency enquiries.Nottinghamshire police are appealing for people not to use the 999 phone line with non-emergency enquiries.
Nottinghamshire police are appealing for people not to use the 999 phone line with non-emergency enquiries.

Instead of calling the 101 police non-emergency number and using the automated service to be put through to any police force in the country, this caller dialled 999 – which could have prevented Nottinghamshire Police’s emergency call handlers from dealing with genuine emergencies.

In the past few weeks alone, the force’s 999 emergency call handlers have taken calls from people who were asking staff to book them a taxi, give advice on issues with rats in their property, talk to them about lost property, let them know about train timetables and even find out when their car insurance is due to expire.

Police are urging people to please think before dialling and only call 999 when: life is in danger; someone is seriously injured; someone is using or threatening to use violence; a crime is in progress; there is serious damage being caused to property or whenever else an immediate police response is required.

For all other non-emergency policing matters, people are urged to please call 101 or visit the Nottinghamshire Police website – www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/advice – for advice on how to deal with hundreds of policing and non-policing matters.

By not calling 999 emergency number when it is anything less than an emergency, people can help to ensure your police can be on-hand when people really do need them most.