Police Scotland have issued a warning to the public not to call 999 unless you are having an emergency.
They are blaming the abandoned calls on young children and people who got a new phone this holiday season. The force have made this warning each call has to be investigated putting added pressure on the police. Police have advised people who accidentally call 999 to explain what happened.
Police Scotland handle over half a million 999 calls each year.
Between 6 am on Christmas day and 6 am on the 27 December, Police Scotland had 807 call where the caller hung up
Chief Superintendent Roddy Newbigging said:
“We appreciate accidents happen, that children can hit buttons and not understand the consequences, but the impact of hundreds of dropped 999 calls a day adds up.
Each 999 call has to be investigated to ensure the safety of the caller. That ranges from cross-referencing the number on our systems to see if there have been previous calls, to calling back the number.
This all takes up time which could be spent handling genuine emergency situations and helping people in times of real distress.”
He added:
“Our advice is simple – if you call 999 by accident and the call is answered, please explain what’s happened.
“It’ll only take a few seconds and will enable the call to be cleared with no issues.”
Police Scotland are now publishing the amount of abandoned 999 calls during the festive season.
By Andrew McKay, Reporter
Sources: Police Scotland, BBC News
You must be logged in to post a comment.