Half of all West Midlands Police 999 calls from time-wasters
More than half the 999 calls to West Midlands Police in the space of a year were made by time-wasters the force has revealed.
New figures show there were 700,000 emergency calls made in 2012 and police said that of those, 336,000 were either non-emergency, hoax or false with good intent.
It comes after the force revealed a series of 'ridiculous' 999 calls which people have made to police over the last year, the latest of which emerged yesterday, when a recording was released of a learner driver calling to complain that his driving instructor had turned up late.
Police Contact Centre Chief Inspector Sally Holmes said such calls took police resources away from people who genuinely needed help, or were reporting serious crimes.
She added: "We regularly receive calls about lost property, people asking for directions and revellers who've been denied entry to nightclubs. Other recent 'emergencies' include a blocked sink plug in a hotel room and someone who'd forgotten their computer password.
"Each call often takes minutes to deal with as staff have to clarify the situation it might not sound like much but, if someone is trying to get through to report a genuine life or death emergency, then a minute is a very long time to wait."
She said 999 was for reporting emergencies only, and that people should use 101 to call officers for any other reason.
