Southport Visiter

Call police via social media

- BY CHANTELLE HEEDS chantelle.heeds@trinitymir­ror.com @chantelleh­eeds

MERSEYSIDE police have created a social media desk to allow people to report non-urgent crimes, or get advice online.

The move comes after the demand on the non-emergency 101 phone number increased significan­tly in recent months, and discussion­s have been ongoing to find a way to reduce the volume of calls but still provide an effective service.

A pilot scheme was launched and Merseyside has been the only force in the UK to have a dedicated social media desk, allowing the public to contact police officers online all day, every day.

Since it began, there have been more than 6,000 significan­t contacts via the social media desk and online reports – including from as far afield as the US and Australia.

Assistant chief constable Ian Critchley said: “On average, Merseyside Police receives 2,500 calls a day and we’ve establishe­d that between 1,800 and 2,000 of those calls are non-urgent and don’t require immediate police attend- ance. We are committed to ensuring that our communitie­s are at the heart of everything we do and we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve our service to the public to become more efficient and effective.

“We know that that we are in a fast-moving digital age and that in the last 10 years we have seen a significan­t shift in the way that people communicat­e with each other and we want to make sure Merseyside Police remains up to speed with those changes.

“We know that while some people will still want to use the phone, a growing number of people would prefer to use social media to make contact. By introducin­g a social media desk that is available 24 hours a day means we can offer that level of service.”

He also issued a reminder that 999 should only be called when a crime is happening at that time; someone is injured or in danger; or the person who committed an offence is still there or nearby.

ACC Critchley added: “Whilst we are doing everything we can do to make our systems more effective I want to continue to remind people to contact us because they need us.

“We regularly receive calls on all sorts of issues such as cats up trees and blocked drains – these types of calls can put extra pressure on our call handlers.

“The social media desk is a nonemergen­cy contact service and does not in any way replace the 999 service.

“People should continue to call 999 in an emergency.”

As well as the non-urgent 101 number and the social media desk, members of the public can also report non-urgent crimes in a number of different ways including a direct email account – COMMCEN@merseyside.pnn.police.uk or via the website, www.merseyside.police.uk

 ??  ?? Go online to the police
Go online to the police

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