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Why, when and how to contact the police:
reporting crimes and other incidents
Ken Legg, Treasurer of Waterlooville and District Neighbourhood
Watch on the importance of making that call
We often hear members of the public, including our own
Neighbourhood Watch members, complain that incidents are not worth
reporting, because nothing happens.
This is just not true; it is just that people do not know what
happens. If you expect a police car with its blue lights
flashing and its sirens blaring to turn up within five minutes of
your call, you are usually being unrealistic. The fact is
that all incidents are recorded, and the information is used to
inform the pattern of policing in your area. It just isn't
possible to give individual feedback to everybody who calls in with
an incident, but the overall patterns are discussed by the
police, the local council and by members of your committee, which
includes your Neighbourhood Watch Area Coordinator. So please
remember, your call really does count! It is only when
everybody knows what the problems are and where they are occurring
that we can work together to find solutions.
Emergencies
Please only use 999 to report emergency situations. There
is a helpful mnemonic to remember when to use 999:
- Phone 999 only if
- Offenders are nearby
- Life is at risk
- Injury is caused or threatened
- Crime or disorder is in progress
- Emergency situations
Calls to this number will be routed to Hampshire Constabulary's
Control Room in Netley, where an operator (who may be a police
officer or a civilian employee), will take all relevant details
before deciding upon a course of action. This may well mean
an immediate deployment of a police unit to investigate the
incident, but this does depend upon the priority of the incident
when measured against other reported incidents in the local
district and the availability of police resources.
Where it is not possible to provide an immediate response, the
call handler will normally be able to give you an ETA (estimated
time of arrival); this may be anything up to two hours from the
time of your call, depending on the priority grading given to your
call and the availability of units to deploy. If it is not
possible to achieve the ETA, you should receive a follow-up
call to keep you informed.
The Control Room uses sophisticated mapping technology to
pinpoint the incident based upon the information you are able to
provide, therefore a post code is always most helpful.
As an alternative to 999, you can use the EU-wide emergency number,
112.
Non-emergency numbers
When contacting Hampshire Constabulary on any matter which does
not justify the use of the 999 Emergency service, you have a choice
of three numbers to use:
- 0845 045 45 45: this will be charged at your telephone
company's tariff for 0845 calls (which may be more expensive from a
mobile telephone).
- 101: this will be charged at a flat rate of 10p, whether from a
landline or from a mobile telephone.
(Originally this number was intended by HM Government to be
a single non-emergency contact number throughout the UK for
contacting police and local councils about low-level crime and
anti-social behaviour, but this project was abandoned after a trial
period in certain parts of the country, including Hampshire;
nevertheless, Hampshire Constabulary has decided to continue the
number as an alternative to its 0845 045 45 45 non-emergency
number.)
- 01962 841534: this will be charged at your telephone company's
tariff for a geographic landline number.
Calls to any of these three numbers will be answered at the
Hampshire Constabulary Force Enquiry Centre at Headquarters in
Winchester, and can be used to make contact with staff at any
Police Station or Department of Hampshire Constabulary, as
well as to report any incidents of crime or disorder which do not
fall within the designation of an emergency situation.
What happens when you report a non-emergency incident will
depend upon the circumstances, and may include one or more of the
following, after the operator has obtained details from you:
- On some occasions the incident may be escalated by the operator
to an emergency situation, in which case your call will be
transferred to the Control Room (see '999 Emergencies',
above).
- The incident may be reported to your local Safer Neighbourhoods
Team, so that they are aware of what is happening on their
patch. A member of the SNT may make contact with you to
discuss the incident in more detail, but the fact that they do not
make contact should not be taken as an indication that they have
not been made aware.
- The data is made available to your local council's Community
Safety Team, who work closely with the police and various other
agencies to combat low-level crime and anti-social
behaviour.
- You may ask for, or be offered, an appointment to meet
with an officer at an agreed time and place, which may be at a
police station or at your home address, to discuss the issues which
led to your call. Officers allocated to these pre-arranged
appointments are ring-fenced to ensure that they are not diverted
for other operational requirements.
In addition to the numbers above, there are alternative means of
communication available to those with hearing difficulties.
Follow the link below for details of the 'PLOD' scheme (Police Link
Officers for Deaf people):
External
link to information on the PLOD scheme >>
If you want action taken, you need to make sure that
somebody knows about it, so make that call!
You can also make direct contact with your local police
officers, by email, by telephone, or by attending one of their
regular "surgeries". Follow the link below for full details
of your local team, and how they can be contacted:
Link to further information on your police Safer
Neighbourhood Team >>
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