One late-night grumbler found out the hard way that 999 is not a hotline for lodging noise complaints about police helicopters.
The nuisance caller not only wasted precious emergency line time but was also left red-faced as the Metropolitan Police gave him a reality check.
The bumbling complainer started his ludicrous 999 call by asking the operator, “What time is it?”.
As if calling an emergency line to inquire about the time wasn’t preposterous enough, he then proceeded to express his displeasure about the noise generated by a police helicopter.
The man was woken up by the chopper that was then involved in a critical missing person search.
The Metropolitan Police retorted via Twitter, saying: “You’ve called a life and death emergency line to say a helicopter has woken you up.”
They clarified that the noise that seemed to be the caller’s biggest worry was, in fact, a part of the search operation for a missing woman, who was later found with severe injuries to her arms.
The post sparked a wave of support for the police on social media, with one user quoting the New Zealand search and rescue helicopter boss who responded to a similar complaint saying, “Strangely enough, none of the 2,500 people we rescued ever complained about the noise.”
The National Police Air Service (NPAS) is no stranger to noise complaints, yet their invaluable contribution to society cannot be undermined.
Formed in 2012 after a comprehensive Home Office review, the NPAS operates borderlessly across England and Wales, with 22 helicopters and four aeroplanes based at 14 different sites.
This tireless team of police officers, pilots, and aircrew possess a diverse range of capabilities, including searching for suspects or missing persons, public order operations, counter-terrorism operations, aerial surveillance, and emergency medical assistance.
Their highly trained crews have played pivotal roles in high-profile cases such as the search for Madeleine McCann and the response to the Manchester Arena bombing.
The 999 call, available at the bottom of this article, serves as a reminder that emergency lines are for genuine emergencies only and not an avenue for pointless complaints.
As another supportive Twitter user put it, “People who make these calls should be located, prosecuted and named & shamed for wasting police time. It’s the only way.”
Remember, folks, the boys & girls in blue and the roar of the helicopter blades are our guardians, not our enemies.
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In the late 1980’s I was the Divisional Duty Officer for an suburban area of West London adjoining the TVP Area. There was a retirement home for the elderly set in substantial grounds and late one evening an elderly resident, >70 years, had been noted as missing during the afternoon and reported to Police when she was still missing at bedtime. I attended the location and arranged for a search to be undertaken by the Territorial Support Group but she could not be located by a foot search. I called Information Room and asked for a helicopter, equipped with NIGHT SUN lighting, to search a greater distance from the care home and the grounds. Efforts were made by the Chief Inspector for me to withdraw my request but I persevered and it was arranged for me to speak with a Chief Inspector from the ASU at by phone. In a 2am conversation the officer tried to get me to modify my request due to the late hour but ! persisted. After I agreed to deal personally with the complaints of noise from nearby residents was a helicopter and crew were assigned. The helicopter was overhead just over one hour later and a structured search pattern commenced and ceased when the helicopter needed to re-fuel. Arrangements were made for the search to recommence at FIRST LIGHT when a helicopter commenced a search pattern, outwards from the care home and after about 1 hour it saw what appeared to be clothing in long grass off an unmetalled road by a Church. On landing the crew found it was the missing woman who was beyond the distance thought to within her physical capacity. She was unconscious but alive due to the warm autumn night, and removed to a local hospital for treatment where she recovered. I hate to think of the cost of the two helicopter assignments and the complaint I could have recieved had I been persuaded to withdraw my request for ASU support and she had been later found dead.