Emergency centre plagued by hoax callers

THE police emergency call centre receives thousands of hoax calls every month – on average 750 a day, or just more than 5200 a week.

Police spokesman Captain Stanley Jarvis said yesterday the prank calls – at 21000, almost half the 50000 calls the emergency centre fields every month – were a waste of state resources and also affected reaction times to genuine emergencies.

"Residents must understand that all our complaints are prioritised and even if it is a prank call a police vehicle still has to be dispatched to investigate," Jarvis said.

In some cases, prank callers were traced and either arrested or warned.