Police warn against misusing Police Emergency Hotline 119

Colombo, June 23 (Daily Mirror) - Steps have been initiated to take legal action against those who misuse the 119 hotline service by making false complaints, which minimises the accessibility to the Police Hotline 119 in an emergency situation, the Police Media Division said.

The police emergency hotline 119 was introduced in 2004 with the aim of immediately deploying police officers in case of any disaster faced by the public or in case of an immediate need for assistance from police officers, Police said.

They said that however, as far as the recent calls reported to this hotline are concerned, it is observed that there are instances where this service is being misused by making false complaints and also making complaints which should be referred to other immediate services, in addition to complaints requiring immediate action by the police.

"The public often make certain complaints through this hotline even though these requirements can be fulfilled through other services (complaints related to customer service, complaints related to bribery, complaints related to irregularities by government institutions and complaints related to cases where police assistance is not immediately required, such as land disputes and financial disputes), a statement said adding that consequently, the accessibility to the Police Hotline 119 in an emergency situation is minimised, and as a result of allocating time for unnecessary complaints, one has to be in a queue for a long time to submit an urgent complaint that requires immediate police assistance through the 119 hotline.

Police said in connection with the lodging of such false complaints, steps have been initiated to take legal action against the relevant persons by reporting the facts to courts and in cases where this service has been misused, measures have been taken to temporarily terminate calls from the such phone number to the 119 Hotline Centre.

Police requests the public to act with due understanding by identifying situations where police assistance should be sought for immediately when using this service in order to receive services efficiently and effectively.