News

MP’s Video Showed a Real-Life Example Of a Person Calling 999 Due to Broken Pipes

Shawn Ambrose

2019-08-08 , 2:00 am

“Hi, 999?”

“Yes, what’s your emergency?”

“The fellow next door is playing really loud music.”

“I’m sorry?”

“THE FELLOW NEXT DOOR IS PLAYING REALLY LOUD MUSIC.”

“Sir, that’s not an emergency.”

“BUT THEY’RE PLAYING WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY ON REPEAT.”

*hangs up*

If you’re an emergency call operator and this has happened to you, well, you’re not the only one.

Misuse of emergency lines

In a video posted on Facebook, Amrin Amin, a member of PAP, details how the 999 emergency line is misused by many Singaporeans.

In the video, Amin visits the Police Operations Command Centre (POCC), the place where 999 calls are answered.

As you can probably imagine, it’s a hectic place where the call operators deal with life-threatening emergencies.

But not always.

Amin spoke to ASP Wan Amir, the officer-in-charge (OC), who said that many people called 999 for non-emergencies such as noise pollution, laundry dripping from the house above, and even broken pipes.

Have a listen to some of these non-emergency calls:

999 – Ops Command

Police Operations Command Centre (POCC) is where 999 calls are answered. Bustling place. I am taking you on a behind-the-scenes look at POCC. Over 1 million calls to 999 in 2018. Guess how many are urgent, real emergencies? 6 out of every 100. Every non-emergency call takes time away from responding to someone in real need.I heard first-hand some of the non-urgent calls. Watch this. #AADiary

Posted by Amrin Amin on Monday, 5 August 2019

As ASP Wan explained, non-emergencies are cases where there is no immediate threat to property or life. For instance, the call about broken pipes does not warrant an immediate response from police officers, unless these officers are moonlighting as plumbers.

So, unless your broken pipes have gained sentience and desire to kill you, it’s not an emergency.

Nuisance calls

Now while some non-emergency callers may have been genuinely ignorant about the urgency of their case, others call with trivial matters on purpose as a joke.

According to CNA, one caller asked the emergency call operator to book them a taxi, while another asked the police to pay his electricity bills because they were expensive.

Non-emergencies could delay response to emergencies

These calls are not only a waste of time but could potentially delay police response to actual emergencies.

Every time a call comes in, operators have to treat it as an emergency, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP)Raja Mohamed Shahir Raja Mohamed Said in an interview with CNA.

Thus, non-emergency calls take up precious time.

“For every nuisance call that we receive, there will be someone else who has an actual emergency, who has to wait for their call to be answered,” ASP Shahir said.

“We do not want a situation where a person who really needs police assistance is unable to get through the line because the operators are engaged answering non-police related calls,” he added.

So what counts as an emergency?

According to the Police’s official website, you should only call the ‘999’ Police Emergency Line when there is an urgent need for police assistance. This is when:

A crime is in progress
Someone suspected of committing a crime is close by, or you know where the person is
A further crime might be committed
Someone is seriously injured or is in danger
When you observe suspicious characters, incidents or parcels left at public areas

Some examples of such emergency situations include:

Someone breaking into your neighbour’s house.
Someone behaving suspiciously near a parked car.
A group of people fighting.
An unattended bag in the bus, MRT or any public place.
You witness a hit-and-run traffic accident or any other crime.

And here’s a video on what NOT to call the police about:

So if you have a broken pipe and are planning to call the 999 emergency line, please do everyone a favour and smack yourself over the head with it.