FOI Reveals 560 Hoax Calls To Police In Wrexham

A Wrexham.com FOI request has revealed that police in the town have been tied up by 560 hoax calls during the past three years.

By far the worst year for nuisance calls in Wrexham was 2009/10 when police dealt with 256 calls.

In 2010/11 the problem alleviated with 136 calls received but rose again last year with 168 hoax calls throughout the whole of 2011/12.

North Wales Police could not give an estimate of the cost of the calls to the force, but hoax calls are believed to waste hundreds of hours of police time each year as well as thousands of pounds.

The force said that they receive many absurd calls each year: “One man called us to make a complaint about BT and another to tell us that his son was refusing to go to bed. We’ve had 999 calls about wheelie bins, parking tickets, and even prescriptions not being delivered. These are not police matters, and certainly not emergencies.”

“We take the implications of hoax and malicious calls very seriously. Making hoax calls to any emergency service is a criminal offence, and we do have powers to prosecute people for misusing the 999 system. People found to be consistently making hoax calls are highly likely to face prosecution.”

North Wales Police encourages people to call 999 in scenarios where a life is in danger or someone is being physically threatened, or if you are witnessing a crime happening at the time, or think the offenders are still nearby.

Also if you witness or are involved in a serious road traffic collision where someone is badly injured, or when vehicles are causing an obstruction or danger to other road users.

For less serious incidents the police non emergency number can be contacted on 101.