Police admit that Triple Zero is the best number to call if immediate Police attendance is required.
The public meeting held at Whittlessea last month heard that statistics are kept for calls made to Triple Zero, but that calls made to local police stations are not counted in those figures analysed by Government decision makers.
More than 400 people attended the public meeting at the Whittle-sea Activity Centre, with speakers saying they had been taught over the years not to call ‘000’, as it was a number reserved for “real” emerg-encies only.
Senior Police told the meeting that official thinking has changed and ‘Triple Zero’ is the “way to go” for the best immediate attention. In Whittlesea, Police may have to come from areas such as Mill Park or Bundoora.
At Yea, local police have been known to serve areas including Ben-alla, Mansfield, Narbethong and Kinglake, when their local officers were unavailable.
Callers to Triple Zero (000) are asked to nominate the required emergency service and identify the location they are calling from.
Triple Zero (000) should not be referred to as ‘Triple Oh’, as this can cause confusion and could result in people incorrectly dialling 666 on some alpha-numeric keypads. If dialled within Australia, emergency calls to 666 will not be re-routed.