Local News
101 Is The Only Number You WIll Need From Wednesday!
From Wednesday 1st October 2014 the only number to call to contact the Police in a non-emergency will be 101. The 326326 number will be de-activated from this time and will no longer be available; a recorded message will advise the caller to contact 101.
Presently, around 50% of all non-emergency calls received by Cleveland Police are called via the 101 number and the date coincides with the introduction of all local landline calls in the area requiring the addition of the area code 01642 preceding the telephone number.
Chief Inspector Kath Prudom said: ‘The national 101 number was introduced in December 2011 as a single point of contact, intended to be an easily remembered number
that the public could use to report crime or gain advice in relation to non-emergency issues of policing, crime and antisocial behaviour.
“The number has now been in operation for almost a year and is nationally recognised as the single number to contact police for non-emergency calls. The advantage to
using the 101 number is that no matter where you are in the country – if you need to contact the police you only have one number to remember.
People should continue to call 999 in an emergency – when a crime is in progress, there is danger to life or violence is being used or threatened. Local councils should still be contacted on their existing phone numbers for issues such as dog fouling or litter."
Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired people can continue to use the Police SMS Text Messaging Service which is tailored specifically for their use, simply text the word ‘Police’ together with the name of the place or street where you are and why you need police to 87202. This facility is for non-emergency calls only.
