(Editor's note: The previous version of this article stated that the woman will be charged with two counts of making harassing or obscene telephone calls to emergency telephone numbers under Section 14D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act. It has been updated to reflect that she will be charged with two counts of communicating false message under Section 14D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906.)

A 34-year-old man allegedly made 31 hoax calls to the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in a span of less than three weeks.

He was arrested on Sep. 18, 2023 and was scheduled to be charged in court on Sep. 28, 2023, according to a police press release of the same day.

Alleged hoax calls, including attempted suicides and fires

Between Aug. 26, 2023 and Sep. 14, 2023, the man allegedly called the emergency hotlines to report cases of attempted suicides, loanshark harassments, fires, and serious sexual offences at various locations in Singapore.

However, after responding to the calls, the police and SCDF established that no such incidents had occurred.

The man allegedly concealed his identity by using a foreign number to make the calls, and providing a false identity over the phone.

To establish his identity, officers from Bedok Police Division analysed his call patterns and did ground inquiries.

They arrested the suspect on Sep. 18, 2023.

He will be charged with 27 counts of making harassing or obscene telephone calls to emergency telephone numbers. Such an offence carries an imprisonment term of up to one year, a fine not exceeding S$5,000, or both.

He will also be charged with four counts of communicating false information of a harmful thing, which carries an imprisonment term which may extend to seven years, a fine which may extend to S$50,000, or both.

Second case

In a separate case, a 27-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of making hoax calls to emergency hotlines.

On Aug. 26, 2023, the police received two calls from the woman purporting to report a case of attempted suicide at a block along Pasir Ris Street 13.

The police and SCDF responded to the calls but established that no such incident had occurred.

The officers did follow-up investigations, and arrested her on Sep. 16, 2023 after discovering her identity.

However, she allegedly refused to cooperate with the police to hand over her digital device for investigation. She was then arrested for the offence of resistance to the taking of property by the lawful authority of a public servant.

The woman will be charged with two counts of communicating false message under Section 14D of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

This offence carries an imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine not exceeding S$10,000, or both.

Misuse of emergency hotlines

According to the police, the Police Operations Command Centre (POCC) received more than 1.3 million calls to the Emergency Number ‘999’ in from January to August this year.

This amounts to more than 5,000 emergency calls a day, with around 4,000 of them being silent calls from mobile phones.

As a result, call operators from POCC spent more time answering these silent calls than real emergency calls.

This led to longer waiting times for those who genuinely needed help from the police.

Those who made hoax calls further worsened the problem, as it not only added to the waiting time for real emergency callers but also diverted resources from responding to real emergencies.

Commander of Police Operations Command Centre, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Lee Su Peng, said:

"The police take a serious view of persons making silent or false calls to ‘999’. It is an offence to abuse emergency hotline numbers. Where necessary, the police, in consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers, will prosecute such callers in court."

Top photo from Jake Espedido/ Unsplash

This article powered by Airalo's 10GB e-SIMs allows us to stay connected with our audience 24/7.