Nuisance Callers dial up a 999 logjam

This article is published in the Straits Time dated 23 Feb 2009. It is about a problem faced by the police in handling 999 emergency calls. According to them 8 in 10 calls are nuisance and drop calls. For the other calls, they are trivial calls which include
1) complaints about noise pollution such as noisy neighbours and work sites during the night,
2) sighting of stray animals such as dogs snakes.
3) using 999 as round the clock information bureau.

Since this problem is causing a jam in handling 999 cases, I feel that the police should take action in solving this problem. Firstly, prank calls not only affects the police but also affects the public. For example, I myself have received prank SMSes before and this could be very irritating. I feel that the police should develop technology and track down these pranksters and punish them severely. This could also serve as a warning to potential pranksters.

"Trivial calls" can be very subjective. What is considered to be a trivial call to a policeman may not be one to the public. For example, when one sees a wild dog or snake he would naturally call the police but this may be considered as trivial to the police. If someone were to be disturbed when he is sleeping in the night, there would be no number to call except for 999 and this again would be considered trivial to the police. If someone needs to contact a ministry urgently, then again there would be no number to call except for 999. Therefore, I feel that the police should appreciate this problem and one possible solution is to create a non-emergency line such as "888". This should be followed up by public education in making non-emergency calls.