Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Police emergency hotline number 999 received as many as 137 prank calls from children in two days, over a span of 16 hours, officials disclosed on Sunday.
As children in the city are enjoying their summer holidays, the central operations room of the police are having to tackle an unlikely problem — bored children who intentionally dial 999.
The enormous number of prank calls is weighing down the functioning of the hotline, officials said, calling on parents to monitor their children.
Audio: Feyaza Khan reports on high number of prank calls made to 999
"During the summer vacation, over a span of 16 hours on two consecutive days we received 137 prank calls from children. They were repeatedly calling 999 to kill time", Lieutenant Colonel Nasser Sulaiman Al Maskari, head of the central operations at Abu Dhabi police said in a statement on Sunday.
The calls also include both intentional and unintentional callers, he said.
He appealed to parents to monitor their children and engage them in useful summer programmes to keep them busy.
No control
"Most of the prank callers are bored and dial the number in the absence of their elders."
On the first day the calls started around 1 pm and continued until 10, while on the second day the calls were received from 10pm to 2am, he said.
He said parents must educate children about the importance of 999 and the negative effects of misusing the number.
"Such prank calls delay the police from immediately responding to someone caught in a real emergency situation, who might be in desperate need of help", Al Maskari said.
In case repeated calls are intentionally made to the 999 then action will be taken against the person who owns the number, he warned. The nature of work at the central operations is of utmost importance, as they alert the first responders to an emergency situation. But the prank calls are a heavy burden, he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Al Nuaimi, head of the Quick Intervention Team of the Abu Dhabi Police said non-emergency calls are one of the biggest challenges faced by his department, in a recent interview with Gulf News.
"Some people do not understand what an emergency is. Because of this, it ends up as a waste of time for rescue officials."
