The National Police Agency says that there were more than 2 million calls made to 110 last year across Japan, which were not categorized as being an emergency.
The NPA said in a report released Saturday (Jan 10) to mark "110 Emergency Call Day," that in 2014, there were 8,524,175 calls made to 110 in Japan. Of those, 2,069,889, or 24.3%, were considered by the police to be unnecessary, NHK reported Sunday.
Police said that most of the calls were related to traffic accidents, accounting for 29.9% of the total.
The unnecessary or nuisance calls included complaints about no toilet paper in public restrooms, vending machines that didn't give change, and questions such as, "How do I update my driver's license?"
The NPA plans to conduct campaigns to raise public awareness on when it is appropriate to call 110 and when it isn't.
© Japan Today
16 Comments
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lostrune2
Maybe it's time to adopt a similar service like the 3-1-1 service:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-1-1
nath
You seem to be confusing cause and effect.
Yubaru
Hence the need to send 50 cops to handle a fight between two 70 year old drunks? People do not respect the police, they show respect to the person as they generally do with all folks here.
careing
Simple solution, press 1 for emergency and press 2 for other with non emergency calls being charged 500 yen per call added to a persons phone bill if its not considered an emergency.
nigelboy
Yes smith. At least Novenachama does not make generalizations based on, as you state, "few cases".
Aizo Yurei
I agree. Fine them and the calls will stop. 110 for Emergencies ONLY.
Mirai Hayashi
Start fining people for these unnecessary calls...problem solved
rickyvee
The problem is that gaijin folks here don't have a hell of a lot of respect for the police.
there. i fixed it for ya.
papigiulio
Really? You should visit Holland sometimes, lately a lof of news about people attacking police or even paramedics while doing their job, trust me it's not that bad in Japan yet.
smithinjapan
Novenachama: "They do their job because they love it and because they feel called to serve the community."
Pretty broad generalization, I'd say. Every year you hear of a few cases of young police officers eating a bullet in or outside a Koban while on duty; I don't think THEY liked their jobs very much.
"community police officers are both tough crime fighters and friendly protectors."
Except for the many, many who grope, steal panties, drink and drive (and flee the accidents that follow), and commit other crimes, right?
Anyway, in regard to the calls, they need to address the obvious nuisance calls more seriously. People who call about there being no toilet paper and take up the lines when there could be serious emergencies need to be fined. There are times when the person's mental abilities may later result in the fine being retracted, but there are some people who seriously abuse the system.
Kobe White Bar Owner
@ Novenachama
Its a cute idea but don't you also see them as people who opt for a easy salary and pension to follow plus lots of bonus time sitting on there brains in the toasty warm Koban. Not to mention what type of person grows up wanting to be a police officer, in any culture >_<
Novenachama
In Japan we support and respect our police officers. They do their job because they love it and because they feel called to serve the community. And we appreciate everything they do. For most community residents, community police officers are both tough crime fighters and friendly protectors. We call them "omawari-san" - Dear patrol officer with a degree of respect and affection. The term conveys the image of someone who is gentle but strong, like a big brother or uncle.
nath
Really? I've found that the Japanese, with their unquestioning acceptance of authority, generally respect the police a lot more than people do in my home country, where many express outright hatred of the police.
SenseNotSoCommon
wonder why?
Yubaru
The problem is that folks here don't have a hell of a lot of respect for the police.
lationz
Does this figure include those old and/or mentally deranged people that have a habit of calling the police literally thousands of times a day? I haven't seen any articles about them too recently, but they do crop up every few months.