Dorset Police have launched a campaign in an effort to reduce demand on their contact centre during the festive season.
As part of the campaign, the force have created a series of comical videos to accompany real recordings of inappropriate calls to the emergency 999 number.
Every Christmas and New Year, calls to 999 increase and whilst many are genuine emergencies, many are not.
Already this year the force have seen an 14% increase in 999 calls compared to last year, and it is expected this continued increase will be seen over the festive period as well.
The first video has already been released by Dorset Police via their social media channels (Facebook/Twitter). The video illustrates a man calling because his bank card has been swallowed by a cashpoint.
Three further videos will be released during the coming weeks illustrating real calls the force receive that weren’t emergencies.
Superintendent Jared Parkin from Dorset Police said “999 calls take precedence for the Force, and we will always prioritise these calls. However we have seen an increased demand in the numbers of genuine 999 calls we have received this year already, and we are expecting this to increase further during the festive season.
“It is estimated as many as one in three calls to 999 should not be made. The calls we’ve chosen to highlight not only show the misappropriate use of 999 but the lack of understanding of what is an emergency.
“On average 999 calls are answered within 10 seconds, but if operators find themselves continually tied up with improper calls this prevents us dealing with genuine emergencies. By highlighting some of the more comical inappropriate calls we hope this will help people understand the importance of the using the emergency 999 number for the right reasons.
“We realise that sometimes people don’t know who to contact, and often see the police as their first port of call, especially if they feel there is need for an immediate answer. However, we would ask, if your call clearly isn’t an emergency and you need help or advice then visit our website where you can find the answer to the most commonly asked questions.”