Police force launches AI tool to reduce 101 calls

South Yorkshire Police has launched an AI assistant called Bobbi to answer non-emergency questions and reduce pressure on its 101 service.

The force said it receives more than 1,000 calls to 101 each day, with some callers waiting 20 minutes or more during busy periods.

Bobbi appears on the force’s website and is designed to handle straightforward queries such as “who do I contact about this?” by providing information already held on official pages, rather than requiring a call handler.

The tool works from closed-source information supplied by the force itself. The force said any information shared in a chat stays confidential and is not used outside South Yorkshire Police.

If the assistant cannot answer, or if a user asks to speak to a person, the chat is transferred to a Digital Desk operator. The force said operators are real staff available 24/7.

Chief Superintendent Cherie Buttle, head of the Force Control Room, said Bobbi will be a useful tool to help reduce calls to 101, save members of the public time, and provide concise and reliable answers to frequently asked questions.

She said by providing quick responses to non-emergency questions, Bobbi will enable those who prefer to use the AI assistant to save time otherwise spent calling 101 and enable those who do need to speak to a call handler to get through quicker.

Buttle said the force recognises some people will have concerns around AI and wants to emphasise that Bobbi is a secure system and is an alternative to, not a replacement for, some 101 calls.

The move comes as Merseyside Police has also introduced a version of Bobbi, becoming the first force in the North West to use the chatbot. Merseyside said around 20 percent of its daily calls do not require an officer to be deployed.

Nationally, the Home Office is backing a separate £1.4m AI triage system developed with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Vodafone Business to identify the reason for 101 calls and redirect non-police matters such as council or NHS 111 issues before callers join the queue.