TL;DR

South Yorkshire Police switched on Bobbi, an AI assistant on its website, on Thursday 1 October. It answers routine, non-emergency questions so that fewer people need to ring 101. It cannot take crime reports and is no substitute for 999. Hampshire & Isle of Wight, Thames Valley and Humberside forces already run the same tool.

Why the force wants it

The pressure on the non-emergency line is plain from the force’s own numbers. Chief Superintendent Cherie Buttle said South Yorkshire handles over 1,000 calls to 101 every day, and that at busy times some people wait upwards of 20 minutes to reach a call handler.

Her case is that quick online answers help two groups at once. People happy to type get a reply without queuing, and those who genuinely need a human face a shorter wait. She was careful to present Bobbi as optional: “It is an alternative to, not a replacement, for some 101 calls.”

How it works

According to the BBC, Bobbi draws its answers from material South Yorkshire Police has supplied, rather than searching the open web as general-purpose chatbots do. That design choice limits what it can say, which in our view is the point for a police force: a bot that improvises legal or safety advice would be a liability.

Buttle also addressed public unease directly, saying she recognised some people would worry about AI and stressing that Bobbi “is a secure system”. The force did not set out in the BBC report what data the assistant keeps from conversations.

Part of a wider push

Bobbi is not the force’s first use of AI on 101. In August it introduced AI software to triage calls to the non-emergency number, filtering out calls meant for other services, nuisance callers and pranks so genuine reports get through faster.

Bobbi is now spreading force by force. We covered Merseyside Police’s own Bobbi launch in September, and the BBC names three further forces already using it.

Looking forward

For UK public services, the interesting question is not whether chatbots can answer FAQs but whether they measurably cut queues. In our view South Yorkshire should publish 101 volumes and waiting times before and after launch, so taxpayers can see whether a tool shared across forces delivers. Other councils and agencies weighing similar assistants will want the same evidence.