Any reporting of Incidents and any requests for Police assistance where you expect the police to attend an incident, or to be visited by, or to speak to an officer quickly within a few hours, should NOT be made to the personal email addresses and / or tel  nos of your NPT (Neighbourhood Policing Team).

If you are reporting crimes, issues or incidents you can use online reporting on the Cambs Police website or start a webchat. To start a webchat look for this icon and click it.

To be certain of getting the right and timely assistance you are seeking, it is essential that you use 999 if a crime is in progress or life is threatened otherwise phone 101. The NPT police officer with whom you choose to make direct contact, may well be on a rest day, holiday, away on training, or other abstraction and your message could be significantly delayed and it may not therefore receive the response it deserves.

What is the right  number to call when seeking Police Assistance ?

Call 999
–   for serious emergencies in which human life and limb are deemed to be at risk, or when a crime (this includes ASB or act of vandalism) is actually in progress or has just happened, and those responsible are believed still to be in the vicinity.  It is appreciated that many occurrences may fall into this description and situations may change very quickly.   But if, in your opinion the definition fits –  then call 999.

The police Operations Centre will assess your call using all other information known about the incident and will then decide upon the appropriate response to meet the emergency.   Sometimes it is necessary, when many calls for priority assistance are received at the same time, the Operations Centre will decide which call must take precedence.    So it is important to make clear in your call exactly what the dangers are as the situation is developing.

Call 101
–  for any other form of police assistance – usually described as being ‘Non-Emergency’.   This means incidents NOT involving life or limb risks or where a crime or incident may have happened but those responsible are NOT present in the area.   However even simple ASB or vandalism can sometimes justify being upgraded by the Operations Centre when other aggravating factors are deemed to be present.