to think that 101 is for reporting police matters, which do NOT include

[Fideliney]

teenagers innocently entering parks, people removing their clothes in their own bedrooms or legally parked cars on public roads?

No I believe it was a number of you having a jolly old gawf at someone else being 'racist'.

Truly ironic.

You might want to take yourself off for some equality and diversity training though ICan, if this is anything to go by;

Yes seeing someone purposefully covering up their face is suspicious behaviour, the police agreed with me.

As might your local police.

there was so much madness on mn then
SO MUCH
( tbh i am far less sympathetic to the mccans now, I really was at the time)

Yes seeing someone purposefully covering up their face is suspicious behaviour, the police agreed with me.

That would kind of snooker orthodox Muslims and people with lung disorders.

there is no crime here whatsoever.

And that might be significant.

They probably leap at the chance to abandon their stewed tea and dartboard to go and hunt down supicious garment wearers.

I did actually think you were making it up. You'd get short shrift in the city.

The only time I've ever called the police on either number was in the case of an emergency or an emergency waiting to happen.

Once when a girl was getting the shit beaten out of her by her boyfriend in the street, and once when a man was lying unconscious in November, drunk, in an alley at night whilst it was pissing it down.

FWIW I don't think anyone actually calls 101 when they're advised to on here which is very often

Sometimes the 'call 101' threads go on for dozens of pages though. Eventually people get worn down and call the police to say 'There was a bloke getting changed in his own flat a couple of nights ago'

I think a number of things build up to someone behaving suspiciously, someone marching down the road clearly in good health purposefully covering their face is very different to someone in cold weather with their scarf up (which is of course really common) or someone in religious dress (also common)

Anyway, as I've said, the police have no issue with me phoning them to report something suspicious. Frankly round here I think it gives them something to do.

The thing is, according to the quoted government/police guidelines, this:

Speak to the police about a general enquiry

covers most of these threads. The general enquiry is 'is this illegal? And what can I do about it?'

The person on 101 is there to say 'it's not illegal.'

I do agree that in the examples given, I personally wouldn't call 101, because I was pretty sure that there hadn't been a crime committed, nor even the potential for a crime to be committed. However, I don't like the idea that someone should be sitting at home, wondering if something is illegal or not, worried to call 101 and ask for fear of being laughed at.

I would say that after you've asked on Mumsnet and had the answer 'it's not illegal', you shouldn't necessarily need to call 101. But if you don't trust the Mumsnet Jury, then the police are the next logical people to ask, and this is the enquiry line.

I've called both numbers a few times over recent years.

999 for domestic assault of a neighbour, I could see into their house and there was hitting and throwing of stuff, I was worried for the lady's safety. Had to do this a couple of times.

999 for an ambulance for a lady who had fallen and bumped her leg, she was struggling to get up and bleeding from a couple of injuries, plus she was elderly.

999 after we were in an accident on the motorway, a lorry shed some of its load. Big aluminium sheets flying off right at us, another lady stopped as a witness, the gentleman was being difficult about insurance details, and I knew the debris on the motorway was a hazard.

999 a few times during pregnancy as I had bowel blockages that were incredibly painful and needed enemas to ensure I didn't get infection in my body elsewhere.

101 to report domestic abuse and harassment since I had left, then again when I moved area to keep local police updated about my worries of being found, I wanted to be sure my address was on rapid response in case my ex did turn up.

I had an ambulance called for me a few months ago on 999, I'd fallen and sprained my ankle, but it hurt a lot and I was worried it might be broken. I couldn't get up either, due to my disability, my hips were going into spasm if I tried anything but lying down.

I've called 101 various times when I lived next to a pub, fighting/shagging/defacating in the garden. Once for a drunk old man who had collapsed mid-winter and unconscious.

Probably the least appropriate time I called was a 999 call when my DD ran off in a busy town centre. I was on my stick rather than in a mobility scooter and she was four. She had behavioural issues and doesn't recognise danger, and she was running toward the busy road at the other side. Fortunately the police station was just over the road she was running around to, and the collected her and brought her back to me, then got us into a taxi to get home safely as DD was having a bit of a meltdown. At the time, making that call was all I could think of to keep her safe.

She was also brought home in the middle of the night by the police after circumnavigating all my extra locks and hidden keys. She knocked on random person's door because she was lost and wanted to come home. Boy was I glad that the person called the police.

I think the examples make it clear that the purpose of the service is to report non-urgent crime though, no?

Well if you phone 101 and ASK them they are quite clear that you can phone at any time with enquiries or questions.

Its a community service and a good one, people shouldn't be afraid to use it.

I think the examples make it clear that the purpose of the service is to report non-urgent crime though, no?

I actually don't think it is sufficiently clear. The "general enquiries/concerns" element introduces ambiguity, imo.

If you look at the examples of when it's more appropriate to call the council, none of them are really about human beings. It's about dogs/abandoned cars/fly tipping/vandalism. They relate more to something happening to property than people.

I don't have the "general enquiries" as an excuse in my case because I was pondering calling 101 before reading that. But I could see how someone reading the text could then it appropriate to call 101 for some of the MN examples based on that advice.

The amateur sleuthing never fails to amaze me.

When April Jones was missing someone on a thread actually said something along the lines of "I drove through there a few years ago on holiday. I remember there being a big empty building on the side of the road. I think I should ring the police and tell them to search there."

She was completely serious.

Is that to me, Fideliney?

I'd say no; not when they have specifically invited general enquiries, which they do by saying 'speak to the police about a general enquiry'.

I would guess that the unwritten part of that sentence would be 'about a possible or potential crime' and not 'how much did number 15 sell for?'

But if someone has witnessed something and they're not sure if it's a crime or not, then the police would like to know about it, I'd guess, so they can decided whether it's a crime or not or part of a bigger story or enquiry.

Basically, I think it's up to the police to decide whether someone's call is interesting or not. I don't think it's up to anyone else to vet them.

I wouldn't have called with the naked man in the window. However, if the next day I heard reports that a man had been exposing himself to local teenagers, my decision on that might change.

For what it's worth, I've never called 101. Partly this is because I'm relatively clued up about crime. Partly it's because the two non-emergency events I needed to report were pre 101, so I looked up the number of the local police station and reported them that way (we were burgled, and I witnessed a minor road accident - neither was an emergency). I would assume that the 101 number exists to cut the faff of people looking up local police numbers, or from walking in and talking to the desk sergeant.

I don't think it's a reason to stop talking to the police unless these specific events. I don't think the police want less interaction with the public. It's probably useful to them to have a feel of what's happening in the vicinity, and who's particularly worried about what. If anything, they want to make it easier for people to talk to them without them instantly leaping to 999 which is a number which really should be kept clear.

(Just in my opinion.)

ICan I promise you if I were to use 101 here in the way that you seem to think is a jolly good idea, I would be very unpopular indeed. Quite rightly.

Half to you Looking, half general musing.

But even that 'general enquiries' clause doesn't make it ok to abdicate your own common sense and call the police to a dropped cigarette butt or someone wearing their scarf ina way you don't like the look of or knocking on your door at 5 am does it?

Haha you have no idea how much this happens, and not just on 101. DH is in the police and people go in and report this crap too. It makes you wonder how some people get themselves out the house in the morning alone.

But even that 'general enquiries' clause doesn't make it ok to abdicate your own common sense and call the police to a dropped cigarette butt or someone wearing their scarf ina way you don't like the look of or knocking on your door at 5 am does it?

I was going to say that none of those examples could even conceivably be 'criminal' in character.

And then I thought about littering.

(I think!) you can get fixed penalty notices for littering/fly tipping but I'm unsure whether that 'offence' constitutes a 'crime' per se.

It's about knowing your area, which obviously MNers won't.

There was thread about adults drinking in a child's play park, that would be responded to were I live, because the Dads (or even Mums) would use any means to move them on, or they would be spotted by addicts/Teens and they would wait until they were drinker and rob them.

Lads wearing scarves outside of winter are stopped by the police, who are always patrolling, because they know there will be a reason quite soon why they need to cover their faces.

So incidents will escalate, into sometimes serious crimes.

The more violent your area, the more the Police like to keep a lid on things.

A dumped car is responded to because there is a chance it's been used in a crime, or the kids will defiantly set it on fire.

I have relatives all over the country and you would think it is a different world they live in.

Birds I'm talking about the silly examples not about things that are genuinely suspicious in context.

Pumpkin but even with cigarette butt littering, in what universe is more sensible to use police resources than just pick the bloody thing up and put it in the bin? If some person is pulling up at the same time every day and emptying their work van ashtrays into your front garden that might be different, but police for a single butt!?

Xcountry I feel so sorry for your DH.

This was the legally parked car thread.

Man walking down the street with a hat pulled down to just above his eyes and a scarf pulled up over his nose and a hat on.

Well obviously someone with two hats on is a wrong 'un. But surely a call to the fashion police would have been more appropriate.

We called 101 once because the old guy that delivers the free paper had left his big trolley outside our house, and hadn't been back for a couple of hours. We know he has epilepsy so were a bit concerned for his whereabouts. We dialled 101 and the police response was very quick and brilliant I have to say.

flummox