Police in North Ayrshire are raising awareness of the dangers of making hoax and silent calls to the emergency services having observed an increase in such telephone calls over the last month.
PC Colin Johnson – Preventions and Interventions Officer for North Ayrshire – said:
“In the last month there have been 24 calls to police from public phones boxes which were either silent or hoax in nature. Each of these calls had to be investigated to ensure the safety of the caller, and this enquiry has ranged from checking CCTV, diverting a patrol vehicle past the phone box and calling back the number.”
“This enquiry takes time which could be spent handling genuine emergencies and responding to people in distress. Enquiries have revealed the majority of these calls were made by children and youths playing, and we will continue to work with partners to raise educate and raise awareness of the dangers and illegality of these calls.
I would also urge parents and guardians to have a conversation with their children about the potentially serious repercussions of these acts.”
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