I had cause to contact the South Yorkshire Police and I begrudge contacting them via the 101 number even though it is a standard call charge of 0.10p.

I started searching for alternative contact numbers and I sourced one for the South Yorkshire Police and one for the Nottinghamshrie Police both are now entered on the database. I was connected to the relevant department with no problem.

I think it would be helpful generally if other members can carry out the same search and enter the details on the database of the alternative Police contact number in their area to assist other members. I will enter as many as I can when time allows but I do not have all the relevant details of the other forces.

Most of the alternatives can be found at www.police.uk/contact/

Fare point but I suggest that the majority of people would  not know this site. I have been a member of Sayno since 2005 and I looked on this site first. I suggest that most members would do the same because as this is a familiar route, I will attempt to enter as many numbers as time allows.

Every police force is required to advertise an 01, 02, 03 or 080 number alongside 101.

Not all of them do, but the list of alternative numbers found on the main police website does cover every UK police force.

Searching the sayNOto0870 database for 'police' brings back a comprehensive list. Searching for '101' returns no results.

The alternative given for Sussex Police on www.police.uk/contact/, 01273 475432, may work (it certainly used to) but it is not the one they publicise, which is 01273 470101.

bazzerfewi wrote on Oct 28^th, 2015 at 10:30am:

I had cause to contact the South Yorkshire Police and I begrudge contacting them via the 101 number even though it is a standard call charge of 0.10p.

It's 15p per call.

As the "central" number for the UK Police Force's is 101 it's difficult to search for alternatives on the database using 101 as the number due to us not having a section for 101.

I typed in Metropolitan Police (Met) which is the main Police force for London and the number shown was the alternative 020 number for them.

Perhaps we could look at having a dedicated page for 101 alternatives?

I agree that the Police UK page is good, but it does mean you have to know to look there.

I personally keep the 020 number stored in my phone for the Met, but it's each to their own.

:)

It appears that the best way to enter the data is to enter 101 in the alternative 01/02/03 field this appears to find the desired result.
So as I understand it if a member enters 101 all the alternative 01/02/03 numbers will appear for any force that is entered on the database.
If this is correct and it appears to work both South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire entries need some alteration.
I have limited telco experience but it appears to work, I would appreciate it if a member with the relevant experience could let me know their thoughts :)

At present, the search works only if a ten or eleven digit telephone number is typed in.

It should be a fairly simple job to amend the search function on the site to cater for people typing in 101 so that the various alternative numbers can be found. The numbers are already in the database, but are currently found only when searching by name or location.

If that is possible it could assist members in my opinion, please keep me posted in this regard as I am interested.

I have now amended the search so searching for '101' should now return the alternative numbers for this.

Any issues, please let me know.

Thanks
Daniel

Good job. It now works exactly as advertised.

Issue raised and fixed in much less than one day.

Hi Daniel

That is fantastic, just needs one small alteration, the South Yorkshire Police       101       Non-Emergency Number is          0114 2196905 and not 0114 2202020

Thanks

Does anybody know an up to date link to www.police.uk/contact/ as this is not up to date and certain alternative numbers are incorrect

You'll need to contact whoever maintains that web page and let them know that some of the numbers appear to be out of date.

I have made contact with the Police Library and i am awaiting their feedback, I will post any results.

101 calls are fixed fee of 15p per call whereas the alternates vary but are all charged per minute. With waits on non emergency calls increasing, it may be better to pay the 101 fee. just saying.

Anyone with an unlimited allowance of calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers on their landline or mobile will want to call the alternative number rather than pay to call 101.

Anyone paying a 'per-minute' rate for calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers will probably prefer to call 101 and pay 15p per call irrespective of how long the call is.

Someone with a small inclusive allowance of calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers on their mobile phone may not want to use up a large portion of that allowance (thereby effectively spending several pounds for the call) and may prefer to instead call 101 at 15p per call.

The information on the police website http://www.police.uk/contact/ no longer shows the list of alternative local numbers. It now shows 101 for all local police forces.

Given that those who have a pay-as-you-go phone with inclusive calls to landline and mobile numbers cannot make calls to chargeable or premium rate numbers without making an additional top-up this effectively blocks some users from calling the police. This has put pressure on the Home Office to make calls to 101 free-to-caller:

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/we_support_calls_to_make_101_free-to-caller.pdf

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/101_background.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/04/30/government-accused-profiting-victims-reporting-crime-collecting/4

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/09/victims-crime-may-no-longer-have-pay-phone-police-government/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2019/05/10/101-calls-should-free-everyone/

About time, it makes no sense for 111 and 105 to be free, but not 101.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/10/six-million-people-escape-charges-reporting-crimes-101-talk/

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/101_alternatives.pdf

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/making_101_free-to-caller_-_developments.pdf

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/05/13/half-public-back-free-101-calls-report-crimes-poll-finds/

After being under fire from the Daily Telegraph for the last few weeks, the Home Office is also under pressure from MPs:

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-04-11.244012.h

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-04-11.244013.h

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-05-01.249791.h

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-05-07.251216.h

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-05-07.251240.h

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2019-05-08.252110.h

It took less than a month, but the Home Office has capitulated and announced that charges for calls to the police 101 number will be scrapped for all from April 2020.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48423791

The Fair Telecoms Campaign was one of several organisations pressing for this change.

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/the_campaign_to_make_101_calls_free_to_caller.pdf

The latest Fair Telecoms Campaign news release ...

http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/docs.html?101axe

101 calls to the Police finally became free of charge as of 1st April 2020.

See the article at www.ukcorruptpolice.com/no-more-rip-off-101-calls-101-calls-free-from-1st-april-2020/