Notts Police non-emergency number switched off

Nottinghamshire Police has asked BusinessWatch to inform our members that the old non-emergency number has now been switched off completely following the national roll-out of of the new '101' non-emergency number.

101 has now replaced the 0300 300 9999 number and gives people one easy way to contact officers.

The decision to implement the three-digit number was introduced after the 2010 British Crime Survey found that only 54% of people knew how to contact their local police if they wanted to talk about policing or crime.

101 was also introduced to help reduce the pressure on the 999 system, which often fields non-emergency calls.

The 101 number can be used when people simply want to talk to a local police officer, or for other non-emergencies including:

  • reporting that a car has been stolen
  • reporting that property has been damaged
  • reporting suspected drug use or dealing taking place
  • reporting a minor traffic collision
  • giving police information about crime in their area

When a call is made to 101, people will hear a recorded message announcing that they are being connected to their local police force.

If the caller is on a boundary between two or more forces, the message will give them a choice of which police force to be connected to.

Police call handlers will then answer the calls and if the incident is recognised as an emergency, the operator will put them through to 999.

Pauline Smith, Head of Demand Management at Nottinghamshire Police, said: "A small number of calls are still being made to the 0300 number so I want to remind people that from Monday 9th January this number will be turned off altogether."

"There won't be a message directing people to 101 or the opportunity to speak to an operator, all you will hear is a dead tone."

People wishing to speak to Nottinghamshire Police should dial 101. If it's an emergency, when a life is in danger or a crime is taking place, always dial 999.

Calls to 101 will cost 15p, irrespective of how long that call may last and applies to all landlines and mobile phones.

To call Nottinghamshire Police from outside the East Midlands, people should dial 0115 9670999.