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Police today (February 21) appealed to the public to use the 999 hotline service only for emergencies.
In 2014, the Police Regional Command and Control Centres received 2 323 016 calls, of which only 55.5 per cent, or 1 289 475 calls, were genuine. The remaining 1 033 541 were nuisance calls or misdialled.
A Police spokesman said that misuse of the emergency hotline would delay the handling of genuine emergencies. It could also endanger the lives of people at risk by postponing their access to the service.
The spokesman added that police stations in various districts could also promptly handle most crime reports and requests of a non-emergency nature. Members of the public are advised to seek assistance from police stations. The list of contact numbers of police stations can be found on the police website (www.police.gov.hk) and the Hong Kong Police Mobile Application.
Ends/Saturday, February 21, 2015
Issued at HKT 10:01
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