Avon and Somerset Police are holding a 24-hour ‘tweetathon’ today, and are tweeting details of all the emergency and non-emergency calls from their Communications Centre.
The tweetathon started at 12.01am this morning and will finish 24 hours later at 11.59pm.
You can follow the action at @ASPoliceLIVE or on their website at www.avonandsomerset.police.uk.
The force will be tweeting calls that come in alongside unusual calls they’ve received in the last few weeks, interesting statistics and advice to help you find information in other places, like their website.
The number of non-emergency calls to 999 is on the increase. This includes persistent and repeat callers, some of whom are vulnerable people who need help and support.
It also includes calls for other agencies such as councils and utility companies and unfortunately it also includes people who deliberately abuse the system.
Some examples of calls Avon and Somerset Police recently received include:
- A call on 999 from a male who wanted the call handler to ring his electrician as he didn’t have the electrician’s number and his lights had stopped working;
- A 999 call was received from a male who appeared to be heavily intoxicated, who firstly asked the football scores that day, then proceeded speak inappropriately to the call handler;
- Male called 999 to report he was being robbed by Vodafone, he keeps paying his bill but getting no service.
Becky Tipper, Call Handling Manager said: “Every day we receive an average of 3,000 calls, 550 of which are emergency 999 calls. Last year 1 in 5 of these calls weren’t emergencies.”
“During our tweetathon we will be giving an insight into ‘a day in the life’ in our communications centre. No two days are ever the same but we are hoping to show the huge variety of issues we deal with.
If we can help cut the number of unnecessary calls we receive on both 101 and 999, this will reduce call waiting times and improve the experience for callers who genuinely need our help.”
The tweetathon is the culmination of a week long campaign to encourage the public to use the 999 and 101 numbers in the right way.
Police have already tweeted a number of calls from people in Bath, though a number of them are believed to be an inappropriate use of the 999 emergency number.
Just taken a call from a lady in #Bath saying he is being followed. We think she called us to get a lift home
— ASPoliceLIVE (@ASPoliceLIVE) March 20, 2015
We are monitoring the lady to ensure she gets home safely #ASP24
— ASPoliceLIVE (@ASPoliceLIVE) March 20, 2015
Male caller in #Bath reporting a stray dog. He was directed to Bath Dogs and Cats Home. Stray dogs are dealt with by local councils. #ASP24 — ASPoliceLIVE (@ASPoliceLIVE) March 20, 2015
