Plea over abuse of 999 calls (From Gazette Series)

Plea over abuse of 999 calls

POLICE in Gloucestershire have launched a new campaign aimed at cutting down on the number of unnecessary 999 calls made to the force control room.

Leaflets are being sent to more than 240,000 households to reinforce the Use it Don't Abuse It 999 message.

Insp Dave Winchester said unnecessary 999 calls were a real cause for concern.

"We receive around 75,000 999 calls every year, which works out at more than 200 a day," he explained.

"In the last year 999 calls have increased by 19.5 per cent and around 40 per cent of the 999 calls we receive are not genuine emergencies.

"When you take into account we also receive over 1,640 non emergency calls a day you can see that our contact centre and control room are under a great deal of pressure.

"With this sort of demand upon our telephonists we need to educate the public only to ring us when it is absolutely necessary.

"Approximately one in seven 999 calls received by us are a result of young children playing with the phone and ringing 999 accidentally. Add to this the numerous other inappropriate calls we receive and it can seriously hamper our ability to respond to genuine emergencies.

"999 should only be called when there is a threat to life, offenders are nearby, a crime is in progress or a serious accident has occurred. We simply urge everyone to think for a while before they dial."

Some of the inappropriate 999 calls made to police include:

- I've lost my cat

- Can you tell me when the next train to Birmingham is?

- Can you put me through to my mother? I haven't got any credit on my mobile phone

- Send the police round to sort out my DSS benefit - they won't give me any money

- I want to complain about the lack of buses in the High Street

The leaflet includes a list of contact details for organisations people may wish to ring rather than the police. These organisations include NHS Direct, Care Direct, Childline, GUIDE, the Samaritans and Victim Support.