FOI Reveals 660 Hoax Phone Calls To North Wales Police

A Freedom of Information request has revealed there have been over 600 ‘hoax’ phone calls to North Wales Police since 2012.

In an FOI submitted by Wrexham.com to North Wales Police, we requested information on the number of hoax / prank phone calls the force had received from January 1st 2012 to May 1st 2014.

Overall there have been 660 hoax phone calls during the above time frame. Of the 660 recorded calls, 117 arrests have been made in the past two years, resulting in three people being charged, one restorative resolution and one person reprimanded / youth case.

Within the FOI we requested a break down of figures across North Wales on a yearly basis, with 411 hoax phone calls recorded in 2012 and 188 in 2013.

As could be expected, the figure for 2014 is comparably lower than 2012/13 figures as it covers a smaller time frame – with 61 hoax phone calls taking place so far this year.

Of the 660 recorded hoax phone calls, 131 of them were from residents in Wrexham.

Wrexham.com also requested information on the yearly breakdown of hoax phone calls in Wrexham,  with 105 recorded in 2012, 18 in 2013 and finally 8 in 2014.

A monthly breakdown of hoax phone call figures for Wrexham can be viewed below:

On the ‘Don’t tie up the Line – THINK! Before you dial 999’ page on the North Wales Police website, the force notes that ‘each year our Force Communications Centre receives over 100,000 emergency and over 400,000 non-emergency calls’

The Force adds: “In the past, people have dialled 999 for the most absurd reasons. 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.”

More information on when to dial 999 can be found on the North Wales Police website here.