Police remind the public that the 999 number is for emergencies only, adding that 76.2% of calls answered in the first eight months of the year were nuisance or misdialled calls.

A total of 2,623,383 calls were answered by the Police Regional Command & Control Centres, of which only 623,207 or 23.8% were genuine.

Misuse of the hotline, such as making nuisance or non-emergency calls, unnecessarily engages control centre operators who would otherwise be handling genuine emergencies.

Any abuse of the service will affect the efficiency of the Police in handling genuine emergencies, and put people's lives at risk.

Police stations can promptly handle most crime reports and requests of non-emergency nature. The Police Contact Card which lists the telephone and fax numbers of Police stations and hotlines is available for public collection at all stations and District Offices.