Mike Weatherley, the MP for Hove, is calling on Sussex Police to review its 101 non-emergency number.
He described the automated system as obstructive and said that it wasn’t fit for purpose as it prevents crimes from being reported.
The Conservative MP has written to Martin Richards, the Chief Constable of Sussex, to raise his concerns.
He said that it presented problems for anyone calling via a switchboard and for anyone calling from outside the county.
Mr Weatherley said that he contacted the chief constable after residents raised concerns with him.
He said that he also found that he was unable to get through to the force using 101 from his House of Commons office when he wanted to report a crime.
Mr Weatherley said: “It’s quite understandable that residents may wish to get through to their local police force when they are not actually in the area or perhaps contact a police force somewhere else in the country.
“However, the present automated system is downright obstructive.
“A series of unhelpful options and long pauses leave callers unable to connect to who they are trying to contact.
“Frustrated at not being able to get through to the right place, I hung up.”
101 is *not* a Sussex Police number, it’s a national number just like 999. It’s easy enough to find a geographic number for your local police force if you need one via the artifice of a Search Engine. What an idiot; I won’t be voting for him at the next election!
Exactly – don’t blame Sussex Police. It is a national project so people have an easily memorable number for non urgent matters to ring local police. Just listen to the messages (like any other auto system). If he cant dial it from the House of Commons, they need to check their own dial plan is configured.