Derbyshire Police condemn hoax callers after receiving 14,000 in two years

The figures were revealed after, home security company SimpliSafe, submitted Freedom of Information requests to police forces across the country.

They found that Derbyshire Police received 14,379 ‘hoax’ phone calls in the two years to September ‘22: SimpliSafe defined a hoax call as ‘calls that convey information that is false and is known or believed to be false for the purpose of causing distress, anxiety or the wasteful misdirection of emergency services’.

The force said such phone calls were a drain on resources and risked taking officers away from life and death situations. They emphasized that hoax calls were ‘not harmless fun’ and could result in prosecution.

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“Every day people ring 999 in life and death situations – and we are there to help them”, a Derbyshire Police spokesperson said.

They added: “At the very least hoax calls take up a call-takers time that would otherwise be used to speak to your mother, brother, wife or friend who desperately needs the help of an officer.

“In certain situations we may have to send officers to a hoax incident, again taking them away from responding to actual emergencies.

“Sometimes people may ring with the best of intentions and then reality is somewhat different and that is absolutely fine – we welcome those calls and do not want people to worry that they will get in trouble.

“But if you knowingly and intentionally make a hoax call then you are committing an offence and we will look to identify you and bring charges where at all possible.

“It is not harmless fun – it is illegal.”

Police across England received an average of 266 prank calls per day in 2021 and 2022: Hertfordshire Police topped the list after receiving 21,899 hoax calls.

Jonathan Wall, UK general manager at SimpliSafe, said: “The amount of hoax calls the police received across the UK is very worrying, especially when the emergency services are stretched so thin. These calls are a waste of resources and misdirect help from the people who really need it.”