Hotline to help

The police’s 10111 Command Centre provides rapid response to emergency calls

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has many units that work in unison in the fight against crime.

If units like the Special Task Force; Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigations; and Public Order Policing are the strong arm of the law then the 10111 Command Centre is the nerve centre telling the arms what is happening so they can respond accordingly.

These units and others respond to crimes such as armed robberies, gender-based violence, and civil unrest, which are reported through the 10111 Command Centre and police stations.

Communication portal

The 10111 hotline unit is one of the communication portals linking victims of crime and the police. The public make use of the hotline when they urgently need to report a crime.The Command Centre officials at the 22 call centres across the country are responsible for dispatching officers to the crime scene.

The SAPS's national head of the 10111 Command Centre, Brigadier Elias Mohlabane, says the call centres work with the various units in mobilising a response when a crime occurs and also coordinates communication during police operations.

“The 10111 Command Centre responds to all emergency calls. We dispatch officers to all policerelated emergencies. When there is a police operation, the 10111 Command Centre works as the nerve centre through which all the messages are passed,” he explains.

Brigadier Mohlabane, who has been the head of the 10111 Command Centre since 2014, says the call centres mobilise other emergency services such as ambulances, the fire brigade and traffic officers by using dedicated emergency radio channels.

In Gauteng and in the Western Cape, there are also metro police officers stationed at the 10111 call centres, making it easier to inform the metro police if their services are needed.

“If, for instance, there is a cashin-transit heist taking place, the 10111 Command Centre will mobilise the Special Task Force, forensic services and all the other role-players in the police force and other emergency services to go and assist in the operation,” he explains.

What happens when you dial 10111

When a member of the public calls the 10111 hotline to report a crime, a series of protocols are activated, Brigadier Mohlabane explains.

“When a call is received by a call taker at a 10111 command centre, they take down the information and the pass it on to the dispatchers.The dispatchers then send out the information to police stations and the radios of officers on patrol.

“If it is anything that is not related to crime, like a road accident with no injuries, we will then call the metros. We have dedicated radio channels and phone numbers that we use to communicate with the other emergency services.”

The police use an Alpha, Bravo and Charlie system to determine the urgency of their response. Alpha calls relate to crimes that are happening at the time of the call.This encompasses all types of crime. In Bravo cases, the crime has already happened and the police need to take statements. Charlie calls relate to minor crimes.

The call centres are manned by 1 133 call takers, dispatchers and call loggers.

The call dispatchers are trained police officers while call takers must have a qualification relevant to the job.

“We have four shifts working at the command centres every day, with shift commanders who are responsible for managing the floors. These are colonels, lieutenant colonels and captains who oversee the call takers and dispatchers,” Brigadier Mohlabane says.

The call loggers collect and log all the calls that are received.

The logging of calls enables the

SAPS to refer to a particular call if a need arises. All the call centres operate on a 24-hour basis, every day of the year.

The command centres receive about seven million calls a year. Brigadier Mohlabane says that all calls should be answered immediately but this is not always the case as there are delays if the lines are busy.

According to Brigadier Mohlabane, hoax calls impede the work of the 10111 Command Centres and the fight against crime.The number of hoax calls received usually peaks during school holidays.

“Hoax calls are killing us in terms of effectively fighting crime. When someone makes a hoax call, they block the lines for someone with a real emergency. Fifteen percent of the calls we receive are either hoax or abandoned calls.”

In addition to the prank calls, Brigadier Mohlabane says they also encounter a large number of people making general enquiries when they call the hotline, when in fact 10111 is an emergency number.These include calls from the public looking for addresses.

The 10111 hotline is crucial in the fight against crime as it enables the public to report crimes as they occur, no matter how far away their local police station is.