Details of all logged 999 calls, 101 calls and online contacts were published on the force’s @DorsetPolice Twitter account. More than 440 tweets were published and messages about the Tweetathon campaign appeared in the social media timelines of over 1.2 million people.

The Tweetathon was run to highlight how the public contact the force as part of its Your Dorset. Your Police. Your View survey. The second phase of the survey is open until Monday 14 December and asks the public how they would like to communicate with Dorset Police.

Being investigated are options members of the public would choose if they wanted to report a non-emergency matter to Dorset Police, and how they would expect to be treated if they had to make an emergency call to the force.

People are also being asked which methods they would prefer Dorset Police to use to provide information to the public, and what types of public engagement they regard as being the most important.

During the Tweetathon, the force command centre answered 187 emergency 999 calls, 321 non-emergency calls to the 101 service and 116 emails. While the number of calls relating to the night-time economy were minimal due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, the force’s officers and staff still dealt with a variety of incidents and enquiries.

Emergency calls ranged from suspected hare coursing in rural Dorset and drug dealing in Bournemouth to possible breaches of COVID-19 regulations and assaults.

There were also a number of missing people enquiries, silent or accidental 999 calls and Clare’s Law requests – a domestic violence disclosure scheme giving potential victims information about the history of their partner so they can make an informed decision about the relationship. Calls were also received relating to partner agencies and triage call handlers provided suitable advice about which agency they needed to call to deal with their enquiry.

James Vaughan, the chief constable, said, “We have an excellent team of people in our force command centre who are there to help our communities from the first point of contact.

“Friday was a busy, but usual evening for the force and I hope the public enjoyed reading about the variety of calls and enquiries received by Dorset Police on a typical day during this pandemic.

“I am really keen for our communities to tell us how they would like to report matters and communicate with the force. I would ask everyone to please take a few minutes to fill in the Your Dorset survey.

“The responses we receive will help to shape the future of the force.”

You can take part in the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/partnermediaposters2