I needed the Police urgently on Saturday night - I called 999 but nobody came!!!?

Question

Luckily all was ok in the end - but the Police don't know that! I want to complain, is there a specific office I should call for this kind of thing? I live in Northern Ireland if that makes a difference...

Answer 1

I have done some digging (from here in the USA), and came up with the following information on how to file a complaint in Ireland about the 999 response (see source below):

To file a complaint you can do any one of the following:
--Call in at our office at New Cathedral Buildings, St Anne's Square, 11 Church Street, Belfast BT1 1PG between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
You do not need an appointment. Our office is opposite St Anne's Cathedral.
--Write to the Police Ombudsman at the address given above.
--Call in at your local Citizens' Advice Bureau and they will tell you how to contact us.
--Call in at your local police station. They will not deal with your complaint, but they will refer it to us as soon as possible.
--Contact your solicitor, who can tell us about your complaint.
--Phone us on 0845 6012931 or 028 9082 8600
--Fax us on 028 9082 8659
--E-mail us at [e-mail]
--If you are in prison and you have a complaint about the conduct of a police officer, you can write to us. The prison staff will treat your letter as confidential.
------You may complete our Online Complaints Form (see the below source for that)


Good luck to you.

Answer 2

Well first of all you called 999...if you are inthe states you should have called 911, that may have been the problem.

And MEGS; what you say is incorrect to a certain point

" Not being funny, but I wouldn't bother. The police are severely understaffed and will only take your call over the phone and make a report that will never get looked into.

Unfortunately, unless there is a severe domestic assault, then you won't see an officer. "

Yes it may be true that certain police departments are under staffed, but regardles of what the call is they should come out to get the report at the place of the call. No depending on the severity of the call it may take them awhile, since there is probably more serious calls being taken care of. Again like i said, depending on the nature of the call and its severity it may take them awile to get to you.

Answer 3

Many years ago I rang Plod to tell them that gang of 6 geezers armed with cricket and baseball bats, were smashing up a pub, it's car park and it's customers. It took them 1.5 hours to send anyone round, by which time, unsuprisingly, the nasty men had sauntered off.

You could try popping into the local police station and discussing the matter with them. If that doesn't work, you can try the Independent Police Complains Commission (http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/index/complainants/who_complaint.htm). It might also be a good idea to get intouch with your local councillor and/or MP and see if they can raise the issue for you. However, all of this is unlikely to do much good anyway. The organs of the state in the UK tend to have utter disregard and disdain for ordinary members of the public. Good luck anyway

Answer 4

the IPCC. ( the Independant Police Complaints Commision) But nothing will happen. The police owe no legal duty of care to respond to 999 calls. The Ambulance and Coastguard do, but the Fire brigade and Police dont.

Answer 5

Police in England are duty bound to respond with in 10 mins (From a 999) I thought it was the same with you guys.

Using a mobile phone is less reliable as the call goes to a call centre

Answer 6

Not being funny, but I wouldn't bother. The police are severely understaffed and will only take your call over the phone and make a report that will never get looked into.

Unfortunately, unless there is a severe domestic assault, then you won't see an officer.

Good luck.

Answer 7

i do not understand the issue in Northern eire yet i ought to commence by making a grievance at your interior of sight Police Station. right here in England that is a waste of time calling the Police because they're to busy dealing with the drunks that infest our cities and cities each and every Friday and Saturday evening.

Answer 8

Well I live in northern Ireland too, so I couldn't have helped you if you lived anywhere else!! The number (charged at local rate) is 0845 600 8000.

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In response to Mark's RUC comment.... haha very good, they're the PSNI now, but that's basically just the RUC in fancy-dress.

Answer 9

not trying to be funny or anything but with the PSNI what do you expect. i think a lot of times it depends on where you live in NI. I was born and raised there but left about 20 years ago and wild horses wouldn't drag me back. PSNI are no different to the infamous RUC...the only thing that changed was the name!!!

Answer 10

I would send a complaint in to the chief inspector at you local station. If you get no satisfaction with your complaint, I would contact the IPCC (Police complaints commision) You can contact them by email. Put IPCC in your search engine.