Derbyshire police are reminding people of when they should call 999 and in what situations they should ring the 101 non-emergency number.
The move comes two months after the force introduced 101 as the new number to call about issues that do not need an emergency response.
On average, Derbyshire police receives 385 calls per day on the 999 number and around one third of these are not genuine emergencies.
You should only call 999 in a real emergency - when a crime is happening, when someone suspected of a crime is nearby or where someone is injured, being threatened or in danger.
For all other incidents or queries, including reporting criminal damage or a minor collision, ring 101.
Derbyshire police have released examples of calls which were made by dialing 999 but were either not a police matter, or should have been made on the non-emergency number.
In November, a woman called 999 to report that a duck had got its head stuck in some plastic at the River Gardens in Derby and a man called the emergency number to tell police a swan was trying to cross a busy road on the Derbyshire-Leicestershire border.
A woman rang 999 in December to report that she was lost in a Derby nightclub and in the same month, a man called to complain that staff at a Chesterfield bar would not return his coat. In July, a woman from Ripley reported that a wasp nest was on her drive.
Superintendent Kul Mahay is head of the force’s Contact Management department, whose staff answer all 999 and non-emergency in the county. He said: “I would urge people to take a moment to think which number is the most suitable one to ring before calling the police. It should be clear as to what constitutes a real emergency situation.
“By ringing 999 when your call isn’t an emergency, you tie up call handlers whose time could be better spent dealing with situations where a life is in danger or a crime is in progress.
“Our call centre staff are highly trained and they are a real one stop shop when it comes to dealing with police enquiries. However, many of the 999 calls we receive are not emergencies and sometimes, they are not even about a policing matter.”
Supt Mahay said he hoped the new 101 would reduce the number of inappropriate 999 calls. He added: “Our old non-emergency number was eleven digits long and we found that people would dial 999 because they couldn’t remember any other number to call the police.
“We believe that the introduction of 101 will reduce the number of 999 calls we receive in future.”