Positive response to non-emergency 101 option - police

A new Appleby Horse Fair non-emergency reporting option introduced ahead of the 2019 fair has proven a useful resource for the public.

In the lead up to and during the fair, people calling the police 101 phone line to make a non-emergency report were given the option to ‘press 5’ to report an Appleby Horse Fair issue.

This option put people in contact with officers dealing specifically with Appleby Horse Fair issues.

People dialling the non-emergency 101 Appleby Horse Fair option were, on average, speaking with a police officer in 75 seconds.

The Constabulary answered a total of 450 calls on this non-emergency reporting line.

Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Temporary Chief Superintendent Rob O’Connor said: “Appleby Horse Fair is the largest policing operation within the county each year, with thousands of Gypsies and Travellers, as well as visitors, travelling to the area.

“We listened to the public following last year’s Appleby Horse Fair and acted on their request for a dedicated line for reporting Appleby-related incidents during the fair and the weeks leading up to it.

“We have attended community meetings before and during the fair and the response to this new way of reporting incidents has been positive.

“We always look to learn lessons from every fair and will look at whether we can continue to put this resource in place for future Appleby Horse Fairs.”

The non-emergency Appleby Horse Fair contact method was used for reporting numerous types of offences, from reporting parking issues to criminal damage.

This option was only to be used for non-emergency issues.

Anyone contacting the police on the 999 emergency line – whether for Appleby Horse Fair or any other emergency – are typically speaking to a police officer in less than 10 seconds.