Sussex Police has launched an Emergency Text service for deaf people, speech impaired people, and those who cannot use a voice telephone.

To summon help in an emergency, first create a new text message and enter details about the problem and the location and which service you require.

Next, choose to send the message, send the message to 65999, the message is then sent to Police Control, who deal with the request on behalf of the emergency services

Police Control will reply with confirmation they have received the message. They may ask more questions. You will know your message has been received only when you get a reply. Until you get a reply, try other ways to contact the emergency services

What is an emergency? Examples include: when life is at risk, crime is happening now, someone is injured or threatened, a person committing crime is near, there is a fire or people are trapped, you need an ambulance urgently, someone is in trouble at sea.

For non emergencies you can still text us on 07786 20 80 90 or use Minicom 01273 483435 or Fax 01273 404274. The Typetalk emergency line is available on 18000.

When texting the Emergency Controller remember to include: what is the problem, which emergency service do you need – Police, Fire Rescue, Ambulance or Coastguard. Where is the problem happening – include the name of the road and the town and any extra information like a house number.

This is an Emergency Text Service for Sussex only and your message will come through to a controller in Sussex Police. Emergency Text 65999

We are trying to make it easier for deaf people / people with hearing loss to contact the police. There are several ways to contact the police if it is not an emergency:

If you use a textphone, dial our Minicom number – 01273 483435. You can then pass on information to the appropriate person.

You can send an SMS text to Sussex Police – SMS number 07786 208090.

You can send an email to contact.centre@sussex.pnn.police.uk.

You can send a fax to 01273 404274.

If you send an email or text to the non-emergency number we will endeavour to reply as soon as possible. However please bear in mind that these are not monitored 24 hours a day.

If you need to contact the police in an emergency there are several choices:

1. Ask a hearing person to dial 999. If possible, this is the quickest and best way in an emergency.

2. Using Typetalk dial 18000. You will get straight through to an Emergency Services Operator. A Typetalk Operator will be brought in to the call as soon as your call is answered.

3. If you have a mobile phone, our emergency SMS text number is 65999.

Welcome to the Sussex Police website, which is packed with information to let you know what we are doing to keep Sussex safe.

The website is regularly updated with news, features, useful information, campaigns, job vacancies and much more – so keep coming back to find out what’s new.

If you need to contact us for any reason you can find out how to do so by viewing the other BSL videos on the Contact Us page.

There are many jobs in the police, not just a police officer. Many of these can be done by deaf people or people with hearing loss.

We are happy to help you find out if there is a job that would interest you and will support you through the application and selection process. If you are successful you will be given the support needed to do your job.

If you are interested in working for Sussex Police, all of our current vacancies are listed on this website and you can also contact the recruitment department for advice by emailing positive.action@sussex.pnn.police.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact the Positive Action Recruitment Manager via any of the other non-emergency methods.