Emergency prank calls have always been an issue but new technology installed at the Police Headquarters is allowing officials to investigate the misuse of the 112 emergency number.

Assistant Police Commissioner Josie Brincat is concerned about the misuse of the 112 emergency call service that is saving lives. “Misuse occurs for a number of reasons. Some are simply prank calls while other are merely accidents that could be avoided with some care.

“We have investigated a case where 175 calls were made by a child. To keep the child quiet parents often give their mobile phones to their children and, if these are very young they may coincidentally press 112 and get through to our emergency number or in the case of older children, they do it just for fun.

“What mainly concerns us is that while weareansweringtheseprank calls the lines are busy to people who may be experiencing real emergencies.”

New software allows for identification of the number from which the emergency call is made. Emergency calls can be made without a SIM card or if there is no signal. In this case an IMEI number appears on our screen that can be used to identify the calls made from that specific phone. Investigations will then lead to the owner of the phone.

Brincat says the police are not interested in people who make a one-off mistake, but when thesame Read the rest of this entry →

Personnel and heavy plant assets from various Armed Forces of Malta’s units were earlier today mobilised to assist the Civil Protection Department (CPD), as last night’s heavy rainfall caused several flash flood situations in a number of localities around Malta. No injuries were reported, but CPD and AFM rescuers were actively involved throughout the morning in debris-clearing operations and rescuing drivers from stalled vehicles.

The heavy rain severely flooded roads, and in several localitiesthe Read the rest of this entry →

A group of rescue volunteers from the ‘Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit’ have just returned from a training program organized together with the ‘Soccorsi Speciali Edelweiss’ held undertheauspicesofthe ‘Civil Protection Department – Malta‘.

The training course was held at Badolato – Reggio Calabria.

Duringthis Read the rest of this entry →

The Emergency Fire & Rescue Unit (EFRU) formed part of the first aid and rescue personnel set up by the Civil Protection Department (CPD) to assistthoseattendingtothe ceremonies and visits of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Present in most ofthe Read the rest of this entry →

Two die in fireworks blast

Seven men were at the factory when explosion occurred

Michael Testa