Norfolk Police said on Sunday morning that it was dealing with a major incident and could not handle non-emergency calls at that time. The force posted the message on X and directed people to its website for information on the incident and how to report non-emergency incidents.
Norfolk Police on X
The statement was brief and gave the public one clear operational change: non-emergency calls were not being handled while the incident was under way. Norfolk Police said, "Norfolk Police are dealing with a major incident. We are unable to handle non-emergency calls at this time."
It also asked people to use its website for information about the incident and for guidance on non-emergency reporting. That left the post with a practical instruction, but no explanation of what had triggered the declaration.
Website instructions
Norfolk Police added, "Please visit our website for information about the incident and how to report non-emergency incidents." The post included a link, but it did not provide any further details about the event itself.
For anyone trying to contact the force about something that was not urgent, the message meant the usual call route was unavailable on Sunday morning. The available instruction was to use the website for reporting guidance until the force issued more information.
Major incident declaration
The force said it was dealing with a major incident, but did not explain what that incident was in the post. That leaves the declaration as the only confirmed detail about the scale of the disruption, alongside the temporary halt to non-emergency call handling.
The immediate priority for the public was to follow the website guidance Norfolk Police pointed to, rather than use the non-emergency call route. The missing detail is the subject of the declaration itself, which the post did not set out on Sunday morning.
