Who would you call if you needed a morning wake up call for your court appearance? Or if you saw a deer outside your house?
For some residents of Hampshire and the Isle Wight the answer was to call police using the 999 emergency number.
Call handlers receive hundreds of calls each shift; the majority of which are genuine emergencies. However, there are also calls made in error or for reasons that do not count as an emergency. Having to deal with these sorts of callers can seriously impact the handers’ ability to speak to people who genuinely need help.
Officers recently took a look at a 10-hour period on a Saturday night (10th June) into the early hours of Sunday morning (11th June) to show the extent of the issue.
Between 17:00 on the Saturday and 04:00 on the Sunday, handlers answered 714 calls via the 999 emergency number. Of these calls, only 49% – 349 – were genuine emergencies. The remaining 51% were either made in error (44 calls), confirmed as not being a new incident, for example a general enquiry or an update to an existing report (171 calls), or were not emergencies and should have been reported online or via 101 (150 calls).
Superintendent Anna Skelton has said:
“By calling 999 about matters other than emergencies, these people are diverting call handlers away from those who really need help. It is always important that people think before they dial and only use 999 in an emergency. However, it is even more important during busy times, such as during the summer, to ensure our lines of contact are used correctly so we can be available to answer 999 calls from people who really need our help.”
“The number of calls coming in to the police and other agencies tend to increase over the Summer months. Last Summer we saw an unprecedented demand on our services at a national level and the reasons for this are really complex. But undoubtedly the fact that there are longer days, warmer weather and tourism coming into Hampshire and the Isle of Wight all play a big part.”
Article continues below this advertisement “The majority of calls we receive via 999 are genuine emergencies. However, in some instances people find themselves in a situation and don’t know who to call so just call us on 999 hoping to be pointed in the right direction, or genuinely thinking this is the correct number. On other occasions, we have people deliberately wasting our time.”
“Help us keep 999 lines clear for your emergencies. Only call 999 if there is a danger to life, a crime is happening at that time, or has just happened, you have immediate concerns for safety or you see something suspicious that needs immediate attention.”
“In all other situations there are other ways to contact us either online, via 101 or report at one of our stations (station opening hours can be found on our website).”
Then answer 101 calls, every day we see you asking for info or witnesses to come forward for crime or road traffic incidents,yet can take 30+ mins to answer only to have to wait again to get call transferred. You also take up so much time giving info that’s not relevant – eg my ethnicity,address, email, phone,dob, marital status,etc when I’ve called you to give you something – no wonder people don’t bother. Research shows if call not answered in 90sec most end call. This is not an excuse to clog up 999 lines for non emergencies though.
I call 999 every time I see young people. Better safe than sorry I always say
Since no-one answers at 101 that means we have no police reporting service.
Vote for the party of Law and Order!
There is no Law and Order on the Island
I rang them over 20 years ago, they never showed up back then.
There was a Rave taking place at Yaverland, vehicles were driving wrecklessly, nearly crashing into buildings
NO ONE SHOWED UP
I would never call them again, not fit for purpose.
I begrudge paying Council Tax to a Government employed organisation who does not
care for people.
I saw an emergency yesterday evening in Sandown
2 Police were cycling along Sandown High Street and then down Pier Street
they were cycling side by side, they probably thought were Punch and John in the TV Show CHIPS
They were holding up motorists who pay to be on the road.
Why cycle side by side, cycle single file and let traffic flow.
Thought they would have known better, doing the job they do.
It was like watching a scene from Last of The Summer Wine
Like it or not it has always been legal for cyclists to ride two abreast and after the last change to the highway code this is now positively encouraged as is deemed to be safer.
That is until cyclists get to a red light and then think the light doesn’t apply to them
My Father reported to DLVA, IW Council, Island Roads and the District Steward for Ryde
that a vehicle has been parked along Great Preston Road in Ryde for over 5 months
NONE OF THEM WANTED TO RING THE POLICE TO HAVE IT REMOVED, THEY SAID TO MY FATHER RING THE POLICE
EVEN THE SO CALLED AUTHORITIES KNOW WHAT A PERFORMANCE IT IS TRYING TO GET THROUGH.
So the Van still sits along Great Preston Road with NO MOT
The funny thing is, it is being used at times because sometimes it is parked outside different
Council Houses along Great Preston Road
STILL NO MOT
JOKE ISLAND
Lol
Tell your father he needs to a life
Very sad people all this wrong going on u two sad gits go about rubbish