Police catch motorists playing Pokemon Go on mobile phones in Derbyshire

Police officers have attended a number of incidents in Derbyshire relating to the new mobile phone craze Pokemon Go.
Pokemon Go launches in UK and Sheffield finds a hotspot by the Cathedral and the Herd of Sheffield elephantPokemon Go launches in UK and Sheffield finds a hotspot by the Cathedral and the Herd of Sheffield elephant
Pokemon Go launches in UK and Sheffield finds a hotspot by the Cathedral and the Herd of Sheffield elephant

A Freedom of Information request to Derbyshire Constabulary by the Derbyshire Times has revealed a total of six incidents across the county in the month of July - which was when the game became available to play in the UK.

The app involves users ‘catching Pokemon’ at ‘real-life’ locations using a mobile phone’s GPS system.

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Hundreds of serious offences have been reported to police forces across the county since the game’s launch, including robberies, thefts, assaults and driving offences.

The figures for Derbyshire show that officers attended an incident in Chesterfield and an incident in Amber Valley where separate individual users were found to be playing the game on a mobile phone whilst driving. Other call-outs across the county during July included a ‘suspicious incident’ in Clay Cross, two concerns for safety and another involving violence. The FOI, which also asked for any incidents up to August 15, which was when the request was submitted, showed another incident of a user playing the game whilst driving in Amber Valley.

Derbyshire police has been asked to comment.