Skip to main content

Police Service statistics

Neighbourhood policing arrangements

Find out information about our Neighbourhood Policing Teams in our Local Policing section.

Police Emergency and Non-Emergency Telephone Call Figures

The Police Service of Northern Ireland receive incoming emergency telephone calls via the ‘999’ system. This is a UK wide system which operates for all emergency services, police, fire and coastguard. Upon dialling ‘999’ the caller will be connected to an emergency services operators from BT and asked which emergency service they require. Those callers who require the police and are located in Northern Ireland are transferred to Police Service of Northern Ireland's Contact Management Staff on dedicated telephone lines which are prioritised. The target answer time for an emergency call is 10 seconds from connection to the Police Service; this reflects a national target which is applicable across the UK. The ‘999’ emergency system should only be sued for incidents where:

  • Someone’s life is at risk;
  • A crime is happening now;
  • The offenders are still at the scene;
  • A serious road traffic collision.

If a person uses the ‘999’ system where it is not an emergency the operator will politely advise them to ring back on the non-emergency ‘101’ number.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland also receive incoming telephone calls via the non-emergency ‘101’. This is a UK wide system which provides a single, non-emergency contact number for the police service. Upon dialling ‘101’ the caller is directed to the police service responsible for that location. In Northern Ireland all ‘101’ calls are connected to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Upon connection to the Police Service, callers are offered a number of choices, which can change, depending on need. Currently those options are:

  • Option 1 – To speak to an officer or Department
  • Option 2 – For information advice or guidance in relation to Coronavirus;
  • Option 3 – To use the Quick-Check service;
  • Option 4 – To report a crime or incident.

Once a report of an incident or crime is received by the Police Service of Northern Ireland we assess the information and determine what grade of response the incident or crime requires. This is determined by a number of factors and there are currently four response grades.

  • Emergency response
  • Priority response
  • Scheduled response
  • Early resolution

The views of the reporting person will inform the decision on what grade is appropriate, however it will not determine it.

Emergency and Non-emergency call figures 2016-Onwards