ACT police received a high number of non-emergency calls to triple-0 in 2024, diverting resources from genuine emergencies. Police are urging the public to use the non-emergency line for non-urgent matters.
Of the almost 40,000 calls to triple-0 received by ACT police in 2024, 36 per cent were related to non-emergency situations. Police say that included a call from a teenager whose parents had switched off the Wi-fi and a man who wanted police to arrest a stray cat on his street. Police are urging members of the public to call their non-emergency line 131 444 if an immediate police presence is not required.
A teenager who had lost her internet privileges and a university student seeking an assignment extension were among 'inappropriate' triple-0 calls made in Canberra last year. The calls have prompted police to urge the public to consider whether they're in a real emergency before picking up the phone. ACT Policing received 39,097 calls to triple-0 in 2024, and 14,066, or 36 per cent, were non-emergency calls. Acting ACT Chief Police Officer Doug Boudry said people calling triple-0 with non-urgent matters could potentially delay their response to those in genuine need. 'We do have members of the community who may be facing a life-threatening situation, we will be dealing with those other calls.' While some calls are recognised by police as honest mistakes, Assistant Commissioner Boudry said police were concerned that people continued to dial triple-0 when they shouldn't. He said they had recently received some 'very interesting calls', including one regarding a landlord not letting a tenant use air-conditioning, a house key being broken in a door lock and food deliveries being late or cold. Police also received a call from a 13-year-old girl who wanted police to arrest her parents because they turned off the Wi-fi. 'Her parents were a little bit embarrassed by that and greatly apologetic,' Assistant Commissioner Boudry said. 'We also had a uni student call in and ask for a professor's number because he wasn't going to get his assignment in on time'
EMERGENCY SERVICES POLICE NON-EMERGENCY CALLS ACT AUSTRALIA
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