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New number for non emergency calls to police       8/2/13

All non-emergency calls to police will be answered by the force control room  in Inverness from  the middle of next month.

The centralisation comes with the introduction of a single non-emergency number - 101 - across Scotland. The number is already in place in the rest of the UK.

The changes will continue to provide a “quick and effective local response 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” says Northern Constabulary

Requests for police service will be provided with an appropriate police response ranging from telephone advice to a local officer turning up.

The public will still be able to speak to their local officers directly and can attend at their local police station during reception opening hours if they wish.

The current call handling stations across the area will only receive external calls for service forwarded by the control room and will no longer be responsible for dispatching police resources, except in exceptional circumstances.

There will be no job losses and reduce calls to local stations means front counter staff have more time to deal with other administrative functions and meeting local demands.  

Force Operations Centre Inspector, Dave Ross said: "From mid-November all Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey calls have been answered centrally by the control room and this has gone very smoothly. Prior to this, we were already handling all calls for Ross and Cromarty and Inverness.

“Where appropriate a police response is provided and if required, calls are transferred to staff at local stations.”

The national 101 number is due to come into effect by the end of March.

Last year, Northern Constabulary handled almost half a million calls in total. Around half were answered by the Control Room.

The Force Control Room receives around 20,000 emergency calls per year.