Almost one in five calls to Hong Kong’s 999 emergency number were diverted to a recorded message last year, a greater percentage than five years previously, according to police data obtained by HKFP.
In 2023, 610,945 emergency calls out of 3,139,814 received – or 19.5 per cent – were re-routed to a bilingual recorded announcement, a Code on Access to Information request revealed. This compares to 12.8 per cent of the total number five years earlier.
Police said the increase in re-routed calls was proportional to a rise in calls to 999, the city’s emergency number for police, fire or ambulance services. They did not comment directly on the potential safety implications.
The message is read out in Cantonese, followed by English – with no option to switch languages. Police said that “no records are kept relating to the number of calls which were subsequently answered by an operator or dropped /abandoned by the caller after being routed to the automated message.”
When an off-duty HKFP reporter saw an ongoing physical assault in Central on November 4, he was re-routed to the message. After the English announcement, a minute later, the call was dropped. A second call was immediately directed to a live operator.
A 999 call. File photo: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
The bilingual message tells callers: “This is the 999 Emergency Hotline. Our lines are very busy. Your call is in the queue and will be answered as soon as possible. Please stay calm and do not hang up. You may also choose to contact the Report Room of the nearest Police station for assistance if necessary. For details, please refer to www.police.gov.hk. For emergency ambulance service only, please dial the Fire Services Communication Centre at 2735 3355.”
Police data showed that 342,741 emergency calls were re-routed to the recorded message in 2018, compared to 610,945 in 2023. The figures increased each year, except in 2020 when they fell to 336,314. During the same period, the total number of 999 calls rose from 2,679,566 in 2018 to 3,139,814 in 2023 – a rise of 17.1 per cent.
Uptick ‘proportional… normal fluctuation’
Police did not give a direct answer when asked whether the situation posed a safety risk but, last Friday, a spokesperson said by email: “The Hong Kong Police Force strives to answer all 999 calls within nine seconds and respond to all genuine emergency 999 calls within an average response time of nine minutes in Hong Kong and Kowloon, and 15 minutes in the New Territories.”
The police 999 call centre. File photo: HKPF.
The spokesperson said the “increased number of calls routed to announcer is mainly due to the increase of a total of 999 calls received and such [a] change is proportional and within a normal fluctuation.”
HKFP also asked whether more resources would be dedicated to the Regional Command and Control Centre and Emergency Unit, responsible for emergency responses. The spokesperson said the Force will “continuously review and improve the operation and deployment of 999 services, with a view to ensuring the effective provision of 999 services. In addition, the Force will continue to remind the public about the proper use of the 999 hotline, as well as provide and promote other means for the public to report non-emergency cases (e.g. hotlines, e-Report Room, etc.).”
The police budget rose from around HK$20 billion to an estimated HK$26.8 billion – a record high – between 2018-19 and 2023-24.
The Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance did not respond to questions about safety concerns in light of the 999 figures.
When HKFP asked if former security chief and serving New People’s Party lawmaker Lai Tung-kwok was concerned, and whether he would raise the issue in the opposition-free legislature, his party said that he had “no comment re: this issue.”
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