It’s been covered above. Like gov dot uk it’s an inaccurate site and whilst it might suit people arguing here to be so literal the fact is that it remains a misrepresentation.
If for example your car is stolen and you can track its location and it’s moving then ringing a non-emergency number gets you a car back probably at the point it’s been written off. On the other hand 999 gets you someone chasing a criminal in the act of committing a crime; provides an opportunity to perhaps stop others being hurt etc.
My ex neighbour had two attempts to test this. His partners Porsche was stolen and could be tracked. Dialled 999 and was wrongly advised to ring the other number. Car was found burnt out on a slag heap ready for a rebuild etc. in Cheetham Hill. The same gang, encouraged by this, returned to take his Posche a few days later. This time he rang 999 and refused to take no for an answer. They finally sat up and took notice when he pointed out it was currently doing just over 100mph in a 30mph zone and flying past one of their police stations.
999 is not for emergencies as defined by the police outwith the law. We define what they ought to treat as an emergency.
Errr…… Actually I served as a police officer in the UK for 32 years. I strongly suspect another poster on this thread has also been a police officer or is linked in some way.
The very best aspect of this forum besides its members contributing a huge knowledge base of all things Naim, is that they come from such diverse backgrounds and are hugely helpful to others on a wide variety of topics. I for one have discovered new things, learnt much, had questions answered, for which I thank my fellow members and their expertise
Given your tenacity so far to cling to 999 being the appropriate response in the original posted circumstances I doubt you will now suddenly agree with any of my previous posts, but that’s your prerogative.
I can assure you a call for Rape (unless historical) is always dealt with as a top priority and can warrant a 999 call. Forensically it is important to secure any and all possible evidence ASAP. From an investigative aspect an early account can help evidentially later and will be fresh. That said the degree of trauma a victim has undergone can lead to delays, this is because the welfare of the victim is paramount.
Factors such as if a victim is still under the influence of drink or drugs, or needs medical treatment, also can delay matters.
I don’t know how many times this has been stated now, but calling 999 is an appropriate use of the service to report a crime that is being committed. What you, the police or anybody else thinks of this is entirely irrelevant.
Forgive me if I take those assurances with a very very large pinch pf salt. Indeed I’d go as far as to suggest one might need to have inserted ones head in a bucket for several decades to avoid the sheer chasm between your assurance and the reality.
For hopefully very obvious reasons I will limit what I say here. I am aware of some people I know with direct experience of the police and their approach to rape including domestic rape. I only have permission to talk of one but that person dialled 999; was able to name the offender; locate them at that moment very precisely; was given zero advice about presenting to medical professionals and was finally visited by an utterly dismissive clown six days later. They are now a national campaigner on said issues and the data is horrifying and if anything getting worse.
I’m not sure anyone has yet pointed out that whilst it might be technically correct that 999 can be used to report a crime in progress, that it only ‘works’ because not everyone uses it in the manner suggested by the OP (and MH).
Thus for an individual to use it as the OP did wouldn’t on it’s own stuff up the system, but were everyone to do so - eg for littering, speeding, etc etc then it would seriously impair the urgent/emergency function we all rely on it for.
No it doesn’t. We live in a democracy. The law is set out clearly. It must be followed by everybody, whether or not they agree, and that includes the Government. To change it requires due process.
Yes it has been pointed out repeatedly but it’s also been pointed out that this assertion is incorrect and not supported by the call data provided by the emergency services themselves and especially that from the police.
Could you report back at a later date the final outcome on this as I’m always interested given the changes we’ve been able to wrestle through locallly in GM by challenging repeatedly the call centre and police model?
Mike,
Sorry to hear of your experiences. Domestic rape can be a difficult set of circumstances. No system is perfect and I’m sure some forces do better than others in meeting the needs of rape victims. I dealt primarily with child rape for 10 years of my service. I also dealt with adult and historical rapes I really take umbrage to your assertion that I have had my head in a bucket and don’t know what I’m talking about.
You are right @ChifChaf For someone to suggest that rape calls are not treated as emergencies is just ridiculous in the extreme. Some people just like lighting fires on here… I think that this thread has maybe run its course.