The Police

When should I use 999, and when should I call the police on a non-emergency number?

I think the important thing when deciding whether you need to dial 999, or use a non-emergency number, is to ask the question to yourself, "Do I actually need the police to attend now, to deal with this incident, or can it wait?" If the answer is that it's an ongoing incident that needs police attendance now, then dial 999. If not, then you should be using the non-emergency number. I think its important for people to realise that if you use 999 unwisely, you're actually stopping people who do need police or other emergency service urgently from getting through. It's important that you do use 999 wisely and appropriately.

What is the difference in powers between a Police Community Support Officer, and a normal Police Officer?

A normal police officer has a number of powers that members of the public don't have, which includes the power of arrest. Police community supports officers are effectively a trained and co-ordinated set of members of the community, but they don't have the powers of a police officer and they don't have the power of arrest. They do work as part of the police service and they do work in partnership with police officers. Community support officers provide a visible reassurance to neighborhoods and work with police officers both to provide reassurance and to prevent and detect crime.

What information will be most valuable to Police in response to a street crime incident?

Well if it's an incident that's actually taking place now, the most important thing that we need is the location that it was taking place, a description of what's actually happening, a description of the people who are committing the offense, including their clothing, and if they've just left, the direction they went. Part of the importance of police response to any incident of personal robbery is we actually respond as quickly as we can to catch the person who's committing the offense. So that, the important thing is to find them as soon as we possibly can. If you're actually witnessing a personal theft taking place, dial 999 and then provide us with the information we need to respond appropriately to it.

Are Police response times related to a neighbourhood's level of affluence?

Police response times are related entirely to the nature of the incident or call that we receive. If a crime is actually taking place and there's an opportunity for us to prevent that crime from escalating or to arrest the people responsible, that response from police will be an immediate response and will receive precedence over more routine calls. It's the nature of the incident that determines how quickly we attend something and not which area that it's taking place in.