Good evening,

Me and PC DONEGAN have been in post as your local beat officers for a couple of months now, and are working to identify key problem areas to address criminal and anti-social behaviour in your area. 

However, we can only address problems if we know about them, and I wanted to share a few responses to some of the common concerns and feedback we've heard from speaking with people, to hopefully dispel a few myths:

1) “I didn't call, I didn't want to waste your time” - It is very rare that we get time wasting phone calls, and we can usually identify them early on. If you think we need to know, tell us. Our call handlers are trained professionals who will determine if we need to attend a call. 

2) “I didn't bother calling, the police wouldn't come anyway” -  It's true not all calls will warrant an emergency response, and we might not always come out straight away. And sometimes, it's true we might not come at all. But at least we'll know and can identify any trends in activities to allow us to proactively police and monitor a situation. We will always respond in an emergency.

3) “I didn't think it was bad enough for 999” - 999 for the police is to report a crime in progress or an emergency situation. Please don't be scared of calling us, if it's happening now, call 999

4) “I didn't know how to report it if it's not 999" - Crime reports can be made online or via 101. These do come through to us, and Kent Police will respond to any reported crimes.