Staffordshire Police has urged the public to call only during genuine emergencies on the day the country's biggest public services unions take industrial action.
Members of Unison and nine other public sector unions are due to strike next Tuesday as part of a national dispute over the Local Government Pension Scheme.
Up to 800 Staffordshire Police staff are set to take part in the strike.
Across the region the action could see about 80,000 local government employees - including council workers, police, fire and ambulance staff, school support staff, home help, care home employees and passenger transport executives - walking out.
It will be the biggest day of industrial action in the public sector since the 1979 Winter of Discontent.
It threatens to close schools, hit care homes for the elderly and leave rubbish uncollected in the streets, while causing mass disruption for millions. The workers are protesting against plans to scrap their right to early retirement.
About 60 per cent of staff in the Staffordshire force are Unison members.
Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport said the force was in daily contact with Unison to agree a list of crucial police staff who will be exempt from strike
action - posts in the force control rooms for example.
She said incidents on 28 March which posed a threat to life or property would, as usual, be the force's first priority.
"I would ask for people's cooperation in ensuring that, as always, they only call the police when there is a genuine need," she said.
"We want to do what we can to ensure that staff in Unison who want to strike can exercise that right, whilst maintaining a continuity of service for people who live or work in or visit Staffordshire."
On the day of the strike rallies will take place all across the region, with the major focus being Victoria Square in Birmingham city centre at noon.
