In 2020, More Than 60% of 999 Calls Were Nuisance Calls

*Calls 999*

Resident: Hallo, police?

Operator: Yes, what is your emergency?

Resident: I have a birthday party in 20 minutes to attend and I can’t get a taxi

Operator: This is why you called the emergency hotline?

Resident: Well if this isn’t an emergency, I don’t know what is.

Believe it or not, some residents have actually called the police in the last few years for assistance in booking a taxi.

In fact, more than half of the calls received last year were not for actual emergencies.

In 2020, More Than 60% of 999 Calls Were Nuisance Calls

In 2020, the Police Operations Command Centre (POCC) received about 1.19 million calls, or more than 3,000 a day.

However, 60% of these calls were nuisance calls, according to The Straits Times.

The POCC was launched in 2015 to detect crime, deploy front-line officers, and support responding officers with findings from sense-making.

But instead of receiving calls about break-ins or an unattended bag on the bus, many emergency communications officers (ECO) get nuisance calls, including calls from mischievous children and other crank callers who kept silent over the phone.

What many of these crank callers don’t understand is that simply missing one call could be a matter of life and death.

If you make a nuisance call to the emergency hotline, those who have an actual emergency might be put on hold because there are no available operators at the time.

Plus, you can actually be sentenced to jail for making nuisance calls to the police hotline.

One 61-year-old cleaner who had been making crank calls to the police since 2000 was sentenced to three years’ jail in 2018.

So, when should you dial ‘999’?

• When a crime is in progress
• If you know of a criminal suspect who committed a crime
•  If you know a criminal suspect’s location
•  If you or others are in danger
•  If you see any suspicious looking person or articles in public areas.

And some examples of emergency situations include:

•  Witnessing someone breaking into your neighbour’s home
•  Witnessing someone behaving suspiciously near a parked car
•  Witnessing a group of people fighting on the streets with weapons
•  When you spot an unattended bag on the bus, MRT or any public space
•  Witnessing a hit-and-run traffic accident

But ECOs have to be discerning, as some calls may seem like nuisance calls, but are actual emergencies.

Called Police To Order a Pizza

Mohamad Suhaimi Ami, an ECO, once received a call from a woman who wanted to order a pizza.

He informed her that she had called the police line, but she repeated that she wanted to order a pizza.

Desperately wanting a pizza isn’t usually classed as an emergency, but this caller really did have an emergency.

Fortunately for her, Mohamad Suhaimi noticed that the woman was experiencing distress and trying to get help, but couldn’t speak freely over the phone for some reason.

So, he asked her yes-and-no questions, and managed to gather more information about her situation.

“Using the topic of ordering food, I got more information, including her address, and the police were dispatched to the location,” he said.

Details of the case have not been made known to the public, but the police said it was dealt with.

A similar incident took place in the US, where a woman who was experiencing domestic violence called an emergency hotline saying she wanted to order a pizza.

Featured Image: Singapore Police Force