A 12-hour 'tweetathon' is returning to highlight the volume of calls and type of incidents dealt with by North Yorkshire Police on a typical Friday in the summer holidays.
The force last ran the initiative at Christmas, tweeting brief details of every call that comes in during a 12-hour period.
The latest tweetathon runs from 2pm on Friday (19th August) to 2am on Saturday (20th August) via the @NYorksPolice twitter account and with the hashtag #NYPfor12
North Yorkshire Police says it has seen exceptional high levels of demand during July and August, with 33,221 calls in total during July - 10,490 of which were ‘999’ emergency calls. This is not only the highest July volumes in history recorded for the force, but its highest month on record.
Several factors have led to this increase which include the easing of covid restrictions as well as the recent spike in good weather. The county also sees a large influx of visitors on holiday in North Yorkshire during the summer months which factors in the increased calls to service.
Behind every 999 call, 101 call and online report in North Yorkshire is the same dedicated team of people handling those reports, 24 hours a day. The team are based at the Force Control Room in York and are often described as the “Heroes in headsets.”
As well as dealing with members of the public, staff in the control room also deploy police officers and take control of incidents.
Superintendent Jason Dickson, Head of Customer Contact at North Yorkshire Police, said: “The Tweetathon is always popular as it shows the public the variety of calls that our communications officers deal with daily.
“I hope that publicly highlighting the volume of incidents encourages people to think about the importance of only using 999 if it’s a genuine emergency.
“Friday, and the weekend, are expected to busy for us, but I am confident that our dedicated team in the force control room are well-rehearsed and prepared for what’s ahead. I would like to thank the force control room team for their high levels of commitment and professionalism at a time when we are seeing exceptional demand.”
This week, members of the public will be given an insight into the volume of calls that the force deals with during their summer Tweetathon event, including the amount of inappropriate, ‘pocket dials’, or misdirected calls.
Superintendent Dickson continued: “It is not appropriate to ring 999 because your taxi hasn’t arrived or because you’ve got a complaint about a pizza you’ve bought from a takeaway after a night out, or because you can’t get hold of the service you need. We are an emergency service, and it is vital that we are able to respond to those who need us most.
“There are also a significant number of calls that come through to us unnecessarily where the caller should have directed their call to an alternative and more appropriate agency or service and not the police.
“We also receive many calls where the caller has accidentally “pocket dialled” us or given their phone to a child who accidentally calls our emergency number. In this instance, our Communications Officers must spend time calling the person back to check it not a genuine emergency. This means they are unavailable to answer incoming calls.
“We take hundreds of calls every day and want to be able to deliver an exemplary service to everyone who contacts us.
“But these nuisance or misdirected calls may stop us from getting help for a vulnerable person in need so all we would ask is that you think twice before picking up the phone and ringing the police on 999 if it is not an emergency.”
As well as Twitter, updates throughout the Tweetathon will also be posted on the North Yorkshire Police Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/NorthYorkshirePolice) and Instagram account (www.instagram.com/NorthYorkshirePolice).
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