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Cumbria Police are using a new national AI-powered call routing system designed to help members of the public reach the right service more quickly, while reducing pressure on police call handlers.
The new technology, introduced today (18 August), will support Cumbria Police's non-emergency 101 service by identifying calls that are intended for other organisations and redirecting them to the most appropriate agency before the caller joins a police queue.
Nationally, around 20 million calls are made to the police 101 service each year. It is estimated that around 20 per cent of these calls, equating to four million calls annually, are intended for organisations other than the police, such as local councils, NHS or the power outage service.
By helping callers reach the correct organisation more efficiently, the new system is expected to ease pressure on both 101 and 999 services, helping police answer calls more quickly and ensuring that people who need police assistance can get through faster.
The AI-powered technology has been developed through national collaboration between the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs' Council and Vodafone, with £1.4 million of government investment.
The system works by analysing why a person is calling and matching their reason for contact to a series of likely options. If the issue is not a policing matter, callers can be redirected to the appropriate organisation without having to wait to speak to a police call handler.
At present, many of these calls are only identified after a conversation has taken place, taking up valuable police time and increasing waiting times for those requiring police support.
Superintendent, Graham Hawley said: "We are committed to providing the best possible service to the public and ensuring that people who need police assistance can reach us as quickly as possible.
"This new system will help reduce demand on our call handling teams by directing non-policing enquiries to the organisations best placed to deal with them.
"By reducing the number of misdirected calls coming into our contact centre, we can free up our staff to focus on genuine police matters, helping us answer calls more quickly and provide a better service to victims and those in need of our help.
"Importantly, there are robust safeguards in place. If there is any uncertainty about the nature of a call, it will be directed straight through to the police."
Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, David Allen, said: “One of the most frequent concerns I have had over the last two years is in respect of the 101 system, so it is great to see the Constabulary taking proactive, technological action to improve systems, and ultimately public service.
“The introduction of the call routing system will be incredibly beneficial for everyone involved.
“Callers will be given a direct route to the service they need and unnecessary pressure will be taken off Police call handlers, allowing them to answer calls for Police response quicker.
“Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, Cumbria Police received 118,870 calls to 101 – on average 325 calls a day. This AI system will cut this down dramatically, providing a better service to those who need support from the Police.
“The pilot for this technology was successful and, now that it is implemented in Cumbria, I look forward to seeing the effects it has on our 101 call answering times.”
The technology has undergone extensive testing and has been designed to recognise a wide range of accents and language patterns. During pilot schemes across 15 police forces, it successfully redirected non-police matters such as fly-tipping reports, noise complaints and damage-only road traffic incidents to the relevant agencies.
Strong safeguards are built into the system to ensure that anyone requiring police assistance is not mistakenly redirected. Callers will be informed how the system has understood the reason for their call and will be able to confirm or reject that assessment. Where necessary, additional safeguarding questions will be asked, and if there is any doubt, the call will be transferred directly to the police.
The introduction of the technology forms part of wider national efforts to modernise policing and improve the service provided to the public.