North Wales Police has sharply criticized residents in Flintshire North for draining valuable resources with petty neighbor disputes, responding to four antisocial behavior callouts in 24 hours over issues like bins and noisy children. The calls created a large demand on the force, with North Wales Police stating that officers need to remain available for genuine criminal matters instead of mediating rows about rubbish bins and children making noise. According to the force, if a matter is not criminal and people continue to cause a demand after being advised it is not criminal, they seek orders to stop them contacting the police.
North Wales Police said they have a lot of crime to deal with and resources need to be focused on this. The force's decision to seek contact ban orders for repeat offenders is believed to be a UK first. Trivial calls are a problem for police nationwide.
Last year, the Met said just 15% of 999 calls were genuine emergencies, with recorded examples including a person with a spider in their room, a dog that wouldn't come back in the house, and no-show delivery drivers. Greater Manchester Police have also issued several pleas to the public in recent years after receiving emergency calls about a train station ticket machine taking someone's change, a late takeaway, and a complaint about a retail company's returns policy. Victim Support said contact bans could send the message that victims' experiences don't matter and victims may fear they'll get into trouble for contacting the police about incidents they deem to be 'trivial'.
Members of the public should only dial 999 if there is a threat to life, someone is in immediate danger, or a crime is in progress or has just been committed. 4 million officer hours a year could be saved if forces across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland moved to more cost-efficient 'model process tools' for dealing with demands for service related to antisocial behavior and burglaries.