Cleveland Police issue advice on contacting them after control room deals with 1,200 calls in 24 hours with not all being police matters

Demand to the Cleveland Police Control Room peaked on Monday, February 6, but the force says not all calls were police matters.

Control room Superintendent Paul Richardson said: "We take the public’s safety extremely seriously, but it’s calls of this nature which are a drain on our important resources, and they tie up our phone lines and operator time.

“Whilst force contact officers are answering non police related matters, they could be answering a call to a victim whose life may be in danger.

“Monday morning seems to be a particularly busy time for people to call up with queries in relation to an ongoing investigation or to speak to an officer.”

Supt Richardson said the Cleveland Police website is a quick and easy way to report crimes and contact the force with queries.

"Using this method to contact us in a non-emergency is not time effective for the victim but it also reduces the high demand on our call takers,” he said.

“Emergencies will always be prioritised, but we will deal with all reported incidents which are not classed as an emergency queries as quickly as we can.”

People can report a crime on the force website at: https://www.cleveland.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/

Members of the public can also report crime and contact the force by using the Cleveland Online Policing App (COPA) launched by Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner in September.

It is available to download from the Google Play and Apple App stores.