Police 101
Phone number for UK local police forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Police 101?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
101 is the police single non-emergency number (SNEN) in the United Kingdom (UK), which automatically connects the caller to their local police force, in a similar manner to the pre-existing 999 emergency number.[1][2] The 101 service was created to ease pressure, and abuse of the existing 999 system. Hazel Blears, then a UK government minister in the Home Office, stated that the new system would "strengthen community engagement".[2] In 2004, ten million 999 calls were made in the UK; however, 70% of those calls were deemed not to be an emergency.[2]
The 101 number does not work for calls originating from outside the United Kingdom.[1] Should the need arise to contact a UK police force when abroad, the pre-existing UK geographic number for the required police force should be dialled.[1][3]