Calling police for a lift, to get cash from an ATM, or pick up a takeaway, are just some examples of the 999 calls made to the police in Northern Ireland in the last year, it has emerged.
The PSNI made the revelation today (Monday) as part of the 'make the right call' campaign launch.
The new initiative, which will run from October 5 to October 22, has been launched to "highlight" and "reinforce" that 999 calls should only ever be dialled in an emergency.
It comes after call handlers dealt with 3,502 hoax calls since September 1 last year.
Chief Inspector Gerard Pollock, from the Police Service Contact Management Centre, said hoax calls were preventing "a genuine life or death call being put through".
He said: "Misusing 999 is dangerous because it endangers others who need to get through to police, fire and ambulance or coastguard.
"In the UK there are millions of 999 calls each year and, in Northern Ireland, there are around 200,000 calls a year. That means every day there are more than 500 999 calls a day that all need to get through to an emergency operator.
"Misusing 999 displaces a genuine emergency and endangers that person in genuine need. Those who misuse the system need to ask themselves 'what if that was your family member who was unable to get help when they needed it?'.
"While this is a 19 per cent reduction on the same period last year it’s still too many hoax calls," Inspector Pollock added.
"It's around 10 calls every day. We tend to have more hoax calls to 999 in the evenings and at weekends, and during the summer months.”
Chief Inspector Pollock added: "The emergency call handlers deal with people when they are vulnerable and in danger, so to abuse their trust and professionalism in this way is appalling.
"It diverts our staff and officers to dealing with hoax calls, time should be spent on dealing with issues that matter to our communities.
"This is not remotely funny, nor should it ever be done as a prank."
