South Yorkshire Police has launched a call handling system using AI software to triage calls to its non-emergency 101 number.
It is hoped the new service will cut waiting times for people trying to report crimes by weeding out misdirected, nuisance and prank calls.
The force received more than 470,000 calls to its 101 number over the year to June 2026, with wait times between eight and 15 seconds, according to official figures.
The system uses an AI model to match why someone is calling 101 to a set of likely reasons. It then redirects non-police issues to the correct agency before the caller enters a queue.
According to the Home Office, the police's non-emergency line receives 20m calls nationally each year and around four million (20%) of these are for non-policing organisations such as local councils, NHS 111 or the 105 power outage helpline.