Police 101

101 is the Single Non-Emergency Number in the United Kingdom which automatically connects the caller to their local police force, in a similar system to the 999 emergency number.

The 101 service is for reporting minor and non-emergency crimes where immediate or high-priority response is not required, such as:

The system determines the caller's location based on the telephone exchange or cell tower they are connected to, and automatically connects them to the police force covering that area, unless the caller chooses otherwise. In some cases, some people may be given an option of choosing from multiple forces, if they are close to a boundary. If the caller would like to speak to a different police force to the one(s) determined by the automated system, they are prompted to verbally choose, by speaking the name of the force they need, however major towns, cities, and counties will also be accepted, with the caller being redirected to the police force that covers that area. If the system is still unable to determine the correct force, then the caller will be transferred to a national human operator who will determine this instead, and then connect the caller to the appropriate force.

The emergency number 112 or 999 should be called when:

A 101 call may be transferred to the 112/999 facilities if it is deemed to be an emergency.

All police forces maintain dedicated individual phone numbers for those who are unable to call the 101 number or who need to contact a non-local force. These numbers are usually found on the police forces own website, or www.police.uk/contact/

A textphone service is available on 18001 101 for those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired. All of these calls are routed to a National 101 operator who will determine the correct police force, and introduce the caller to the police operator.

101 is easily mistaken for NHS 111, which offers medical advice.

All major police forces in the UK are covered by the 101 number. The full list is as follows:

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