Slashdot Mirror
Police Shame Pranksters On YouTube
Barence writes "British police are shaming hoax 999 callers and time-wasters on YouTube in an effort to cut down on non-emergency calls. Video clips uploaded include a lady phoning police to ask what year the internet started, the dramatic tale of a man whose wife would only provide salmon sandwiches for lunch, and another worried soul who had lost her glasses and could not see properly to peel potatoes. Anyone else think the chance of YouTube fame is more likely to encourage copycats than educate people about the wrongs of hoax calling?"
Anyone else think the chance of YouTube fame is more likely to encourage copycats than educate people about the wrongs of hoax calling?
Yes, because there was certainly no such thing as prank phone calls before Youtube came along.
Yes, because that's what the GP said. He said "Youtube will create the concept of prank calling". It's not like he made a valid point about it encouraging idiots to get some 'fame' for themselves, or possibly memeifying the worst calls and making them into regular prank call trolls. Way to miss the point.
Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
The call is free of charge. The fine for abusing the service isn't.
A non-emergency number (101) was launched a couple of years ago in some areas to try and reduce the number of calls to 999, it's meant to be used for: reporting vandalism and graffiti; noise nuisance; threatening and abusive behaviour; abandoned vehicles; dumping and fly tipping; drunk and rowdy groups; drug related anti-social behaviour; and broken street lighting.
There's also NHS Direct (0845 46 47), for medical non-emergencies.
Perhaps Google could launch a service to cover everything else, with some voice recognition, a Google search and an audio web browser.
Did you listen to the clips? The two linked ones were both elderly ladies, not '14 year old twits,' They didn't sound like crank calls, just people genuinely not understanding what 999 is for (or even what the police are for, in one case).
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If you're referring to Tony Martin: his house was burgled, he confronted the burglars, and they fled. He then fired upon them as they were running away. He was not at this point acting in defence of himself or his property; this aim had already been achieved, with the burglars now leaving the premises. He opened fire anyway.
Brendan Fearon, who had been wounded, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for burglary. Fred Barras was too dead to stand trial. Tony Martin was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, later commuted to five years for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of his paranoid personality disorder.
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