...to think 'call the police' is not the correct solution to every problem?

[user1471468700]

Long time lurker here...
Now I'm aware that I'm probably about to p*ss off a lot of people, but I've noticed many problems relating to neighbour disputes, naughty trick-or-treaters etc are causing people to advise 'call the police, call 101'
AIBU to think the police have other stuff going on, like muggings, murders, burglaries and so on?

Yeah, that's why they have 101 though.

YANBU, I think the police would rather you call the non-emergency number for advice rather than potentially letting neighbour disputes to escalate into an aggressive situation, naughty trick or treaters to escalate to antisocial behaviour, etc.

Muggings, burglaries and murders involve calling 999 and get would get an emergency response. The stuff you mentioned above is the sort of thing that 101 is meant for and would get prioritised and dealt with only when resources are available.

Police officers can't all be out hunting murderers and violent criminals, they are there to deal with a huge spectrum of issues.

I meant to say YABU

YANBU.

I work for the police answering the 999 and 101 calls. The amount of bull shit non event stuff that people call about is unbelievable, I don't know what people actually expect the police to do sometimes. Half the stuff is so childish and petty, people need to grow up and not call the police every time their neighbour gives them a dirty look...They call to just 'let you know' but 9 times out of 10 we aren't even going to do anything because there literally is nothing to do. Like you say, there are much bigger things going on that we have to deal with, even if it did require us to actually do something, it's going to be pretty near the bottom of the pile!! I'm sure people expect officers out on blue lights at the slightest thing. Maybe in a rural area where there isn't much to do but in a big city, we have to priorities and there are simply not enough police officers to deal with people's petty crap.

Sorry for the rant

'Call 101 and get it logged' has become a bit of a joke on MN because it gets said so much.

I agree it's said far too much and often for things that can be resolved with a bit of back bone and an adult conversation.

Thanks so much for your input Farfromtheusual. Just confirmed what I was thinking

I agree, I often visualise that people suggesting contacting the Police live in a quiet, sleepy COtswolds village. There is not a cat in hells chance, the Police would come out over nonsense in inner city Manchester. The force is on its knees, resources are at an all time low, despite what the stats say.

What did people do before 101? I'm guessing they developed the skills to resolve conflict (about who's car is parked where for example) without needing 2 police officers to mediate

If you are talking about advice given on here then YNBU. It's like 'call social services', 'call the police'.......

Another thing that gets me is everyone has anxiety. Its serious and belittles those with a diagnosis from their GP. Some people are stressed and worried, but I sometimes think it's not true anxiety. Its just life.

Why are burglaries not 101 calls? My parents were burgled while they were away and I phoned 101 when I discovered the break in. Unless the burglars are on the premises it is not a 999 situation. Why keep clogging up the police's time with paperwork.

I'd assume that people who've been burgled are hoping that the police would come around and look for forensic evidence before the mess gets tidied up - maybe in the hope of solving the crime?! Obviously that doesn't happen - either for a visit or for solving it. Not quite sure why we have the police these days

999 is for anything that is happening at the time, in progress. 101 for anything after the event.

cathf thanks for the support, I wasn't sure if I would be jumped on.

YANBU, I think this constantly on here. Most of the time it's unclear what the Jeff people are expecting telling a 101 operator will achieve.

Yanbu. "Log it" with the police is often mentioned. Like they are a diary management service.

Farfromtheusual, what do you say when someone ring you to "just let you know" their neighbour has given them a dirty look, or their friend owes them a tenner?

To be honest phoning 999 doesn't guarantee a faster response. All it basically does is ensures your call is answered quicker.

Once it's been entered into the system it gets sent to the Control Room and the Despatcher prioritises the call. I don't even look at how a call is received what I look at is the content of the call.

Contrary to what a lot of people think calling 999 instead of 101 doesn't get you a faster response

Katy The police will ask if there is any evidence ie blood on some broken glass. They will assume you will ask your neighbours so it saves them doing house-to-house too.

There just isn't enough resources to forensically examine every crime scene.

Yanbu, I completely agree. The advice to call police/ 101/ even specialist divisions on here is frequently wrong and I hope that MN'ers don't genuinely contact this police to the levels they appear to IRL, because these threads are exactly what the wasting police time programmes are made of.

The police aren't, and never have been, there to resolve rows, disputes etc. People have become very dependant on someone else doing this for them rather than putting on their big girl pants and doing it themselves.

Katy07 Not sure where you stay but housebreaking always get attendance here

As to what the police do I don't know where to start. The cops are stretched to the max. The numbers keep getting cut their shifts are getting harder and harder. Most of my shift are so pushed they have no time to stop and eat and are reduced to asking for 10 mins to go to the loo.

Then theres the other agency calls we get landed with. The person with mental health issues who we have to take to hospital and stay with til they're seen. That can write a car off for a whole shift

If people get a poor police response it's not down to the cops it's down to the cuts

"officers out on blue lights at the slightest thing"

Chance would be a fine thing - Ive not seen a police officer around here for years - not on foot. Not on a bike/motorbike. Police car going past or in the distance, but thats about it. & I live in London

There are lots of roles where there may or may not be "petty" calls but they're important to someone, whats the point of a judgmental post and thread to make them feel silly?

Or is everybody supposed to be clever enough to know the solution to every problem?

Put up the rules for when you can and should call 101 then everyone can see, that would be more useful. This reminds me of a "musn't bother the doctor" thread...

It's interesting that there is a very different attitude to wasting police time by calling 101 to 'log' a petty dispute than there is to wasting A&E time with minor ailments. To me these are very similar - both are wasting scarce resources intended for dealing serious issues be they crimes or health issues.

My neighbours have this annoying habit of throwing their kids broken toys and footballs into our garden and calling the police to accuse us of either stealing them, breaking them or both.

It is bloody ridiculous and it is such a waste of the police officers time and TBH it is also a waste of my time as well.