If you find yourself in the situation of having to make a silent 999 call to police, you must listen carefully to the emergency operator and follow instructions given to you. This is the same for calls from a landline or mobile phone. However please be aware that it is extremely difficult for the police to trace the location of mobile phone calls, so any indication you can give of your location, even if you have to whisper, is vital.
Dial 999
If you dial 999 but are unable to speak, keep the line open and listen carefully to what the emergency operator says.
At the start of the call they will ask: “Emergency which service?”
If you do not respond they will then ask: “Do you need Fire, Police or Ambulance?”
If you still do not respond the operator will say: “What number have you dialled please? I cannot release your line until you say that you do not need an emergency service”
and then:
“If you are unable to speak but need an emergency service, please tap the handset, cough or make a noise”.
If the operator does not get a response to any of the above questions but can hear background voices, they can connect the call to a system that asks you to press “55” on your keypad if you want the police.
Responding in one of the above ways will prompt the operator to quickly connect to the police.
We do not recommend that anyone calls 999 silently.
In an emergency it can be safer and quicker to speak to a police call handler even if you have to whisper, but if there is no option but to make a silent call you must listen to the emergency operator and respond to any instructions as above to ensure that your call is identified as an emergency, routed to the police control room and logged and dealt with appropriately.
For more information on the exact procedure that a call handler and BT follow please see policy number D268 titled: Force Call Handling and Contact Policy which can be found within the FOI section under policies.
