999 or ring local station?

starviewadams

Had to ring 999 at 4 or 5am last night cos I was awoken by a group of drunk/high scumbags banging and kicking my front door and repeatedly shoutin jibberish through the letterbox.

When I got through to the guards I told the call taker what was goin on and she just casually replied that the lads were probably just messin about,and when I gave her my address she didnt seem to have a clue where it was and asked me were there any local landmarks near me!

I live in a fairly old housing estate in Clondalkin and not in the middle of no-where,maybe it was her first day or something!A squad car arrived about an hour later when the lads had long vanished of course!

If a similar situation arose would I just be better off ringing the local station?I'd presume that they might at least know where my estate is!I would've done it last night but I didnt have time to find the phonebook.

shoelaceface

you were better off ringing the local barracks anyway as it wasnt really an emergency! just a bunch of drunks acting the maggot

starviewadams

shoelaceface wrote: »

you were better off ringing the local barracks anyway as it wasnt really an emergency! just a bunch of drunks acting the maggot

Yeah your probably right,felt like an emergency to be woke out of a deep sleep to the sounds of someone tryin to kick me front door in tho!

Shield

Ringing the station won't make a bit of difference I'm afraid. Once the 999 controllers determine which station you are closest to, they connect you to that station (paraphrasing for simplicity).

Imagine turning up to St James's hospital at 1am on a Saturday night/Sunday morning with a broken limb. You'll be seen by triage, put on a long waiting list, and priority cases will be seen ahead of you, simply because that's the busiest time for demand on all emergency services.

Unfortunately for you, it occurred when demand on Garda resources was extremely high (and always will be!), and just like the example above, priority cases will receive Garda attention ahead of yours.

In Dublin all 999 calls go to the control center in harcourt square. the people answering the calls are taken from stations all across dublin so the person you spoke to may have been stationed in balbriggan before being sent into control.

when a call is received it is entered onto the computer aided dispatch system. this will usually recognise the majority of places in dublin but there are some places that are difficult to enter correctly. this may have been the problem that you encountered.

by ringing the station your call may have been entered onto the cad system quicker but you would still have been waiting as long as you were because the car was dealing with calls that would have had a higher priority.

1922

999/112 = emergencies

drunken yobs are not an emergency

supersaint3

1922 wrote: »

999/112 = emergencies

drunken yobs are not an emergency

outside your door - no, inside - yes!

Delancey

They may have been just drunken yobs but it would be a scary experience for most people ( I include myself in that ) , in fairness I could not criticise someone for dialing 999 ( and believe me I could write a book about , ahem ' silly bananas ' making ridiculous 999 calls ).

opti76

delancey42 wrote: »

They may have been just drunken yobs but it would be a scary experience for most people ( I include myself in that ) , in fairness I could not criticise someone for dialing 999 ( and believe me I could write a book about , ahem ' silly bananas ' making ridiculous 999 calls ).

so could i.... "my chinese arrived cold last night ... when i complained they offerd me a refund.... but not the cost of delivery."

"I woke up this morning with more milk in my fridge than when i went to bed"

"i cant find my car keys"

"my 4 year old wont eat his dinner"

Delancey

My personal favourite has to be '' Howya , I'm just wanting to know when de guards are recruiting next ? ''

2nd favourite - '' the fella I gave a lift to still owes me 10 cents and wont pay it ''

Turner

supersaint3 wrote: »

outside your door - no, inside - yes!

I would disagree.

Anybody (drunk or sober) kicking in somebodies front door would be a priority one call for any police force.

O/P there is no problem logging the call with 999, it goes into a priority system.

No problem either ringing the station and letting the gardai know how urgent the call is to you and your family. They can circulate the call as urgent/screaming being heard in the background etc.

Units might divert from whatever they are doing, but as has already been said here its all down to resources and priorities.

Any time I've rang 999 I was put through to the local station anyway. Would I be right in saying the operator on the 999 call speaks to the station before you though, to let them know it's an emergency call?

I rang AGS twice in the last year I'd say. Once via 999 and once direct to the station.

First time was because I woke up to hear glass being shattered and when I looked out my back I seen a group of guys and girls tearing lumps out of a vehicle and muttering to each other "just get the CD player" as they bounced everything in close proximity off the vehicle.

I say vehicle, because there's a guy who parks his van where they were, but I couldnt see it. So I rang 999 cos I thought it was his van being broke into, and AGS appeared in exactly 5 minutes (which is great timing, and i was surprised because they didn't give the usual 2 minute head start to the scumbags by unnecessarily blaring the sirens on the way). It was about 2am on a Friday. Turns out it was just a car that had been stolen and they were destroying it for the sake of it. Scumbags and all that.

This was also at the start of the year, during the snow, so I was realy surprised with the 5 minute response time. Unfortunately the scummers had left before the Gardaì arrived.


Other time was about 4am on a Saturday. Heard a group of people fighting amongst each other. Wouldn't have cared if they killed each other, only they were being ridiculously loud. Rang the station and asked if they'd send a car up. I told them it wasn't really an emergency as such and explained what I heard/seen.

About a minute after I hung up, the scumbags all ended up leaving anyway, so I rang the station back and told them it was OK, that scumbags anonymous left. A car showed up about 20 minutes later, anyway.

I found this one a bit odd though. The guys took their time getting there (if a jeep can do it in 5 with snow, a car should be well capable of better time in good weather, though that said, It wasnt an emergency call). But when they arrived, they hung around for a while, and gave the front and backs of the houses, where the scum were, a really good looking at. They drove very slowly around the place twice and stopped outside my house for a minute or two.


Many times in my life I've seen the Garda station had been called directly, I've never seen it rang directly in an emergency situation, so I don't know if the guys will give you emergency treatment if you tell them it is an emergency or not.

That said, I doubt they'll ask you to hang up and ring 999 so they can connect you to the same person again.


The fire station don't seem to like people ringing in directly though, i understand? I rang an ambulance once via 999 and they didn't connect me to anyone else. Told the 999 girl where i was, what was happening and that was that.

civdef

The fire station don't seem to like people ringing in directly though, i understand?

In most of the country, the phone would be ringing in an empty building.

robbie_998

starviewadams wrote: »

Had to ring 999 at 4 or 5am last night cos I was awoken by a group of drunk/high scumbags banging and kicking my front door and repeatedly shoutin jibberish through the letterbox.

When I got through to the guards I told the call taker what was goin on and she just casually replied that the lads were probably just messin about,and when I gave her my address she didnt seem to have a clue where it was and asked me were there any local landmarks near me!

I live in a fairly old housing estate in Clondalkin and not in the middle of no-where,maybe it was her first day or something!A squad car arrived about an hour later when the lads had long vanished of course!

If a similar situation arose would I just be better off ringing the local station?I'd presume that they might at least know where my estate is!I would've done it last night but I didnt have time to find the phonebook.

what estate in clondalkin ?

i live around clondalkin too but the gardai are very fast to respond to my neighbors jeep being set on fire. (nobody likes them )

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Any time I've rang 999 I was put through to the local station anyway. Would I be right in saying the operator on the 999 call speaks to the station before you though, to let them know it's an emergency call?

I rang AGS twice in the last year I'd say. Once via 999 and once direct to the station.

It's different in Dublin.

Hooch

Deleted User wrote: »

Any time I've rang 999 I was put through to the local station anyway. Would I be right in saying the operator on the 999 call speaks to the station before you though, to let them know it's an emergency call?

999 calls go to an emergency phone which is only used for emergency calls. Normally two/three of these phones. Generally in nearly all Divisions, apart from three, the calls go to the Divisional HQ communications room (it just so happens this is in your local station).

The exchange transfers the call to the comm room and just says " exchange" and their call sign which is two letters. They then transfer. Unlike fire service, ambo or CG they cannot listen in to Garda calls due to state security unless they are sure its a prank call in which they will stay on and advise the Garda on duty......we can hear both but the caller can only hear us.

In Dublin all calls go to Command and Control in the square.

Slightly off topic I know but just spotted the thread on the homepage

I will call my local station if there is anything going on nearby. I just wouldn't dial 999 unless it was an emergency.

I once had the need to call 999 and asked for the Gardai, was asked where I was, told them and got put through to the station where my call went through to voicemail. A 999 call, me in need of the Guards and I end up with an answering machine. Was shocked tbh.

Poly

opti76 wrote: »

"I woke up this morning with more milk in my fridge than when i went to bed"

"

Deadly! "We'll send over Mulder and Skully right away"

sdanseo

starviewadams wrote: »

Had to ring 999 at 4 or 5am last night cos I was awoken by a group of drunk/high scumbags banging and kicking my front door and repeatedly shoutin jibberish through the letterbox.

When I got through to the guards I told the call taker what was goin on and she just casually replied that the lads were probably just messin about,and when I gave her my address she didnt seem to have a clue where it was and asked me were there any local landmarks near me!

I live in a fairly old housing estate in Clondalkin and not in the middle of no-where,maybe it was her first day or something!A squad car arrived about an hour later when the lads had long vanished of course!

If a similar situation arose would I just be better off ringing the local station?I'd presume that they might at least know where my estate is!I would've done it last night but I didnt have time to find the phonebook.

Almost identical thing happened to me a year or more ago. Got through to a central Garda call taker only, followed by a call back from the local station. 2 Squad cars on the road in about 3 mins, a mile and a half from the station!

This was at 5am, mind.

PrimalTherapy

1922 wrote: »

999/112 = emergencies

drunken yobs are not an emergency

Anytime i have heard garda interviewed they always said if you want the garda call 999 or 112 as is now

PrimalTherapy

PrimalTherapy wrote: »

Anytime i have heard garda interviewed they always said if you want the garda call 999 or 112 as is now

Probably because it is easier to say that than give the number to every divisional headquarters.

PetrovthePrat

Also some operational reasons may mean calls for Ballyanywhere are handled by Ballyelsewhere,so if you ring the local station (for any service) you may be ringing and ringing and ringing. 999/112 will connect you to Ballyelsewhere,if for example Ballyanywhere had issues with their phones.
So I think 999/112 is the better option.

pah

emergency = immediate & serious risk to life or property.

People have varying interpretations of immediate & serious but suffice to say i would think

drunken yobs on the street, being loud and boisterous = not an emergency

drunken yobs banging down your door or your car = emergency