A publicity drive urging people to programme the non-urgent police number 101 into their phones is now spreading across two neighbouring counties.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping has joined Derbyshire PCC Alan Charles’ campaign to ensure that call centre staff are able to answer 999 emergency calls without unnecessary delay caused by non-urgent calls.
“If everyone programmes the 101 number into their land lines and mobiles it will be easily available, reducing the temptation to call 999 and risk blocking the line,” Mr Tipping said.
“It’s very important to dial the right number so that there is no wastage of time when emergency 999 help is desperately needed by fearful people or when a crime is progress.”
“This a brilliant campaign built on the back of Alan Charles’ concerns that people were insufficiently familiar with the 101 number. It’s a simple but powerful campaign that I am delighted to support as I believe it will help to prevent vital seconds being lost by people calling 999 unnecessarily.”
The idea of pre-programming 101 into phones came from Radio Derby presenter Aleena Naylor when Alan was discussing the need for greater awareness of the number on her show. 101 is the number to dial for non-urgent matters like appointments, obtaining a crime number or seeking crime updates.
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Posted on Wednesday 25th December 2013