' Is it right to call 999 over mattress in the road?' blog discussion

SallyForth_2

DUKE wrote: »

Emergencies are for murders .... not matresses. I'd've just rang the police station number then they could decide whether it was an emergency or not.

The fact it was a mattress is irrelevant, the issue was that there was a large object in the middle of a fast moving dual carriageway, which was dangerous, and therefore there was need to get it shifted as quickly as possible, I for one, would not have known the local police station number.

Onyourcase

I wouldn't have called 999 until an actual accident had happened. I have our Police non emergency number on my mobile to notify the police of other things.
My wife got me to stop one night as there was an injured cow at the side of the road. We went back to help the sofa!!

Mark_Hewitt

What about the radio stations? The BBC local radio stations all have travel bulletins and I regularly phone them up when there are problems on the roads. If there was an obstruction and someone rang in to tell them about it, would they then call the relevant highways authority?

mbrodw

I appreciate this old but there is an important point here....

In a previous life (a year ago) I worked in London Ambulance's control room and I understand how our colleagues at MetCall (police) work.

- jd87 picks up on the local area knowledge - whilst all the (3) of the police control rooms for the MET are in London, it is of course a huge place!

- Also, the way their control and dispatch system works a postcode is the easiest/quickest and most accurate way of identifying a location to send to the most appropriate borough - having worked in that area, the Westway is covered by at least two Police boroughs (Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham), so the reason she may have been a little 'off' as to get her required map reference she would have had to put a little more effort and thought in.

Anyway...someone may be interested!

Taadaa

I wouldn't call 999 for this. It does need to be reported, but it's not an emergency until/unless it causes an accident. If it was a moving obstruction, like a horse, then yes I probably would call 999 as it has far more potential to cause an accident. For a static hazard, however unusual, most drivers would slow down and put their hazard lights on to warn the drivers following.

Buzby

I would, and I would not hesitate.

If the scenario COULD result in an accident, then your call is valid. Refusing to do anything until an accident actually occurred is a dereliction of your public duty. If the Police decide not to do anything, it is their call, and you have nothing to worry about.

If you are mobile, then 112 (or 999) connects to the correct centre - attempting to find out the relevant number for the area you see the issue will be fruitless most of the time, and waste valuable minutes.

pinkteapot

I have to say I probably would have called 101 (the non emergency number), just because I err on the side of caution when using 999 and the 101 operator can decide if it's an emergency.

Re postcodes, I thought it was only the ambulance service that asked for it as part of the standard script. We do a lot of hill walking and climb mountains in the Lakes and Scotland. Always been told that if you have an accident and need mountain rescue, you call 999 and ask for police, then say you need mountain rescue. If you say ambulance then ask for mountain rescue the first question you get is "what's your postcode?".

As an aside I called 101 for the first (and only) time a couple of months ago and the service was very good. We had a stranger ring our doorbell at 6am. He was dazed, bare-foot and asked if he could have a lift to the airport (?!). We said no and he wandered off. We live opposite a large hospital so were worried he might have come from there but obviously it wasn't 999 worthy. Called 101 and they took all the details and sent a police patrol car to look for him. Quite impressed.

Riversong

I would say 999. My experience of the local plods is that sometimes they just don't respond even if they're needed.