One caller wanted to know the Traffic Police hotline and then asked the officer to make the call for her. Another complained about a neighbour who had confronted him about his blaring music. He said his nine-month-old baby needed loud music to go to sleep. A foreigner called to ask for the number of the hotel where he had stayed and had just checked out of. Others called, then hung up when the officer picked up the phone. These are some of the extreme examples of nuisance calls to the police emergency number 999 over just one day recently. Don't these people know that the police 999 number is meant only for police-related emergencies? We wish officers at the receiving end of such outrage could reach out and wring the callers' necks.

In Parliament last month, Second Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam pointed out that the emergency lines received close to 1.5 million calls last year, and some six in 10 of them were in the nuisance category. Many people seemed to treat the line as a phone directory or complaints bureau. Then there are the pranksters, out for a spot of fun or to cause mischief. Callers who ring 999 to complain about their neighbours and other non-emergency matters like sightings of stray animals should call their neighbourhood police posts instead. The problem is that they may not have the number of the police post.

Here is where the police and community leaders should step in to publicise the number. Posters, fliers and even laminated cards can be used in such publicity campaigns.

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