Accidental 999 callers are urged by police to not hang up
If someone dials 999 by accident, police advise against hanging up.
Since every quiet emergency call is followed up on, the forces advise people to stay on the line and let the operator know the call was placed accidentally.
In Dorset, police said that compared to the same period last year, the number of unintentional 999 calls has increased significantly in recent weeks.
An update to Android cellphones is suspected to be partially responsible for the dramatic increase in 999 calls.
Police departments have advised individuals to verify their phone’s settings after adding a new SOS emergency function using the power button.
The average time to resolve a mistaken 999 call is 20 minutes.
Staff members phone back to see if the caller needs assistance after searching police computer systems for any prior encounters the caller may have had.
One out of every five calls to Dorset Police’s 999 service each month were unintentional, according to Supt. Pete Browning, head of contact management.
“Our control room staff dealt with accidental calls for more than 1,000 hours in May, or 33 hours per day, when they could have been assisting crime victims.”
Thames Valley Police and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary reported that their call-handlers had also noticed an increase in calls in recent weeks.
Following the Android update, the police said that BT was reporting a marked increase in unintentional calls to the 999/112 service.
All suspected misdials that BT cannot investigate are forwarded to the appropriate police force.
