Page Last Modified: 12th December 2020
What is a real emergency?
Calling 112 only in an emergency
Calling 116000 only in case of missing children
Our Standards
If you have a complaint about this service
Quality Service Charter
112 and 116000 are both free of charge
Available 24/7
What is a real emergency?
A real emergency is one that poses an immediate threat to your life and property, such as, personal physical attacks and break-ins. Other situations that we consider emergencies are the following:
traffic accidents with fatalities and/or injuries
Bomb threats.
If your emergency or the one that you are witness to requires police assistance, dial 112 immediately.
When you dial 112, we will assess whether your emergency requires our help. In this case, you will be immediately assisted.
Calling 112 only in an emergency
We receive an average of 850 calls on 112 every day of which 79% are not real emergencies. You can help us reduce this abuse by calling 112 only in the case of a real emergency. Please do not misuse the 112 number as this may prevent someone with a real emergency from getting through.
The Emergency SMS number 79 770 112 shall be used by deaf persons and/or those who for some reason are unable to make a call.
If you need to call the police and it is not a real emergency, please call the Police General Headquarters on 21224001-7 or your local Police Station.
Still, do not hesitate to call 112 when you think it is a real emergency. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Calling 116000 only in case of missing children
The helpline 116000 addresses exclusively cases of disappeared children. Staff are trained to provide support to parents of missing children.
Our Standards
When you have an emergency and dial 112 you can expect us to:
answer your call within 15 seconds
respond with courtesy and attention in every emergency
identify ourselves at your request
professionally assess how urgent your call is in order to dispatch the appropriate help needed for your emergency.
do our best to ensure that a police unit reaches you within 15 minutes when your call has been assessed as a genuine emergency
follow the call through until your emergency has been resolved or police have arrived to your assistance.
All 112 calls are subject to assessment before the level of response is decided upon. Only 112 calls which are genuinely urgent will be responded to on an emergency basis.
We assure you that full confidentiality will be maintained when we answer your emergency call.
If you want to complain about our service
If you feel that we have not met the standards we have set or if you are otherwise dissatisfied with our service, you may file a complaint by clicking here.
You may alternatively call personally at the General Headquarters, any local Police Station or Local Council Office and ask for the duty officer's assistance.
When lodging a complaint you have the right to remain anonymous but in this case we will be unable to update you with progress made in the investigation.
If you are still not satisfied, you may refer your case to the Office of the Ombudsman or the Police Board.
Quality Service Charter
The Police Emergency Services Quality Service Charter, which was intended to inform you about the Police Emergency Services and the standards we aim to reach when we assist you in an emergency, was launched on 7 March 2001.
We will do our best to maintain the standards and will make every effort to improve our services.
We welcome your suggestions, as these help us improve the service that we give you.
References:
DIRECTIVE 2002/20/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 7 March 2002