Wife lost in mall was one of 6 million 999 calls to police in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 2014

Dubai Police said it received a number of ridiculous calls, including someone looking for a fast-food restaurant's number, someone who was lost and another who could not find his wife at the mall.

Dubai’s 999 centre. Police say prank calls can lead to charges being laid. Dana Moukhallati / The National

DUBAI // If it’s an emergency, call 999 – but some callers to Dubai Police have their own ideas about what constitutes an emergency.

Officers have been asked for the phone number of a fast-food restaurant, for road directions, and for help in finding a vehicle in a shopping mall car park.

“One person was calling to inquire about why his phone did not register the credit he just charged,” said Brig Omar Al Shamsi, deputy director of the police operations department.

“We once received a phone call from a man who lost his wife at the mall. We contacted mall security and she was eventually found shopping in one of the department stores.”

Dubai Police answered nearly three million 999 calls last year, of which fewer than one in five were genuine emergencies.

“Most of the calls are inquiries, and there is a different number for that,” Brig Al Shamsi said. “Only 18 per cent of calls were worthy of immediate police attention, and most of those were road incidents.”

Officers at the operations room deal patiently with all callers, but Brig Al Shamsi said prank callers faced prosecution.

“Our officers are trained to be polite and as helpful as possible to anyone who calls but it would be unacceptable if a person intentionally called and made up an emergency.”

He said his team answered 999 calls in less than 10 seconds, or a maximum of three rings.

“Of the 2,904,184 calls last year, 2,846,100 were answered within 10 seconds. We answered approximately 7,000 calls a day.”

Brig Al Shamsi urged non-emergency callers to use the free 901 hotline for a centre that operates around the clock, answering public inquiries whether related to Dubai Police or general information.

The number was launched in 2010 to divert non-urgent calls to 999, and limit its misuse.

Brig Al Shamsi has suggested that the UAE unify all its emergency lines for civil defence, ambulance and police.

“The operations department at Dubai Police headquarters already receives calls made to both the 999 police hotline and the 998 hotline for an ambulance. In case of a fire, people are meant to dial the 997 hotline for civil defence.

“Why not make it less confusing to civilians and have one number for the three departments? The operations room already gets calls for fires.”

In Abu Dhabi, police took 3,342,278 calls last year, a 4.75 per cent reduction from 2013.

Col Nasser Al Maskari, director of the police’s operations department, said: “The decrease in the number of calls is a result of adopting excellent criteria and the increase of public awareness regarding the proper use of the emergency hotline 999.”

He said customer satisfaction stood at 97.2 per cent last year.