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The roll-out of the new 101 number for people to ring police in non-emergency situations has been a success but some misconceptions about it from members of the public need to be addressed, a report has found.
It is estimated that police in England and Wales receive around 67 million calls from the public each year but 70% of them are non-emergency.
The 101 number is intended to be used for incidents which do not require an immediate response from the police, such as damaged property, minor thefts and drug dealing to divert routine inquiries from the 999 number.
It came into widespread use across England and Wales last year after being piloted by several forces, replacing the seven-digit numbers people used to contact different police forces in non-emergency situations, which many people were not aware of.
Instead, by dialling 101 from anywhere in the country, the caller now goes through to a call centre that then connects them to the force they need.
The Home Office report was compiled after questioning members of the public living in the Hertfordshire, Essex and Metropolitan Police force areas, with most people being found to have a clear idea about what constitutes an emergency situation and the appropriate circumstances in which to use 101.
But it found that some people mistakenly believe that using 101 results in a less localised service with many believing that the former non-emergency numbers connect them to their local police station, rather than to a call centre. As a result, they feel that using 101 does not provide the same access to local knowledge.
For others, concerns about a less localised 101 service are compounded by the closing of many local police stations, believing that the two matters were linked and indicative of a less local, more centralised police service.
Some also believe that the perceived lack of a localised service has an impact on the speed of the response that the police could provide, while people also assume that the way police deal with their issues would be less formal if they call 101.
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Some incorrectly believe that details of non-emergency calls would not be properly logged, and another commonly held misconception is that non-emergency call handlers are not as well trained to understand and deal with issues.
Users who have experience of phoning 101 generally have a positive view of the conduct of call handlers, who are viewed as taking calls seriously and treating callers with courtesy.
But a small number of those questioned are dissatisfied with the service, typically as a result of delays in speaking to a handler or their calls failing to be returned and some say they would opt to use 999 even if the situation is not an emergency.
In general, users were not aware that there is a charge for calling 101 but when told, most thought the 15p per call cost is reasonable.
Although the overall process of implementation was deemed a success, there are problems in some areas, such as where an inconsistency is discovered between the policing boundaries and the geographical areas covered by call-routing equipment.
In this case, the force in question initially had calls routed to them from several postcode areas which were in their county but served by a different police force, but it was subsequently resolved by the telephone company, the report said.
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