Complaints about a burning chicken or cold chips might seem amusing, but they are a serious drain on police and emergency call operators, especially when response times to genuine emergencies are criticized.
One Too Many ‘Moronic’ Time Wasters
While a few frivolous calls are expected, one a day is still too many. Trivial complaints have included a woman demanding police arrest a barista over a bad latte, an elderly woman calling 000 for a “strong policeman” to open a stubborn milk carton because she was “desperate for a cup of Tetley’s,” and a man asking police to check his letterbox while he was in Bali.
These calls consume valuable time—about 10 minutes daily, according to customer service operator Shannen Palmer. She attributes this to a modern lack of problem-solving skills.
“In an age where technology and the internet is so accessible, it’s interesting that we still get so many calls on triple zero when people lock themselves out of their house. If they just googled it, they would be told to call a locksmith,” Palmer said.
An Age of Entitlement
WA Police customer service manager Paul Perry blames an age of entitlement, noting that many callers are old enough and educated enough to know better.
“The amount of calls we get about fast food is absolutely incredible. It happens all the time. People call saying my chips are cold, or I made them redo my chips, but now my nuggets have gone cold, or I didn’t want anchovies on my pizza,” Perry said.
“We live in this increasing age of entitlement, an age of drama and the anti-hero… we think bad behaviour should be rewarded, we’re seeing that today socially.”
A trend towards social media and away from real-life contact is also leading to social isolation in some communities, and the lack of an informal neighbourhood watch might be partly to blame. However, this is no excuse for tying up police resources.
Pocket Dials Also a Problem
Even the 150 to 200 pocket dials received each day cannot be ignored, in case it is a domestic violence victim who can dial but cannot talk.
“They realize they’re ringing triple zero, and they panic and hang up,” Mr Perry said. “Sometimes we have to send officers in a car to your home and knock on the door to find that you were laying on the couch and you pocket dialled. We desperately need people to stay on the line and just say, hey it was an accident.”
While it is better to be safe than sorry, police worry they might miss genuine pleas for help while their lines are tied up by a lost burger or late Uber.
Prank calls can result in fines or even up to 12 months in jail. Police urge the public to use common sense and save 000 for real emergencies. After all, officers put their lives on the line for us; surely we can do this for them.
