Man to face court over nuisance Triple Zero calls

A 36-year-old O’Connor man will face the ACT Magistrates Court after police charged him with making nuisance phone calls to the Triple Zero (000) Emergency line.

About 3.30am on Sunday, 22 March 2020, police attended a residence in O’Connor following reports from Police Operations that a man at the location had made 11 nuisance phone calls to Triple Zero (000) that morning.

Police attended the residence and spoke with the man, who was cautioned after allegedly admitted to making the calls.

A short time later, police returned to the location after the man allegedly made further nuisance calls to Triple Zero (000).

He was subsequently arrested, and charged with one count of improper use of emergency call service. He will face court next month.

Superintendent of ACT Policing Operations, Rohan Smith said the incident was a timely reminder to the public that these kind of calls have the potential to put lives at risk.

“It should be obvious enough that the Triple Zero (000) emergency line is for emergencies only, and people can face severe penalties for making nuisance calls to this line,” Superintendent Smith said.

“Unnecessary and nuisance calls can place undue strain on the system and police call-takers, meaning that genuine emergencies may not be responded to in a timely fashion.”

ACT Policing would like to remind the public to call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency or life-threatening situation only, Police Assistance on 131 444 to report a crime, and Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 to give information.

Police Media — (02) 5126 9070, act-police-media@afp.gov.au