101

No not my personal room 101 choices for Orwellian torture (although those may come another day) but the non-emergency police telephone number. This morning was the first time I've called it and I have to say, I'm impressed.
True to purpose, my call was far from an emergency. The traffic lights at a major road junction had gone out. Although traffic was just about moving it was more than a little chaotic and a few sets of screeching tyres suggested an accident was not far off. It was also extremely dangerous to cross given there were six lanes of traffic to negotiate, all with cars taking their chances where they saw them. All it needed to restore order was a police officer to take control of the junction and restore order.

In years gone by, reporting this would be a problem. Not many people I know keep the local police station number saved in their phones (and in any case, this wasn't strictly local to me) and dialling 999 for a bit of traffic control seems a little extreme.

I called 101 and was connected pretty much immediately to the local constabulary (slightly scary how they knew that but let's overlook that bit for the time being). There was an option to change the force one was connected to but that's where the, "press one to..." routine ended. My call was answered quickly and by someone who spoke and understood (there is a difference) English fluently. Two minutes later, I had passed over all the relevant details, got a genuine sounding thanks from the lady at the end of my phone and was back one my way to work; job done. Beyond the usual complications of describing one's location to someone who isn't there and may not know the area, it really was that simple.

There have been many gimmicky ideas to do with emergency services over the last few years however this was unequivocally not one.

Slightly random post I know but hopefully it's raised awareness of the phone number if nothing else.

JR