Hello 999, have a heart and listen to my poems

ajman — A “lonely man” has been calling the Ajman Police’s control room for three months straight at a particular time daily to recite his poems and discuss life in general. This was among the several nonemergency calls the police have had to deal with on 999, their emergency line.

A top police officer said the elderly man, who is believed to be over 80 years old, calls every day at 12am. “He obviously was a lonely elderly man and needed to talk to someone. The officers did not dismiss him, but instead dealt with him in a very humane and professional way,” said Lt-Colonel Hisham Abdullah Bu Shihab, director of the Ajman Police operations room.

After officers convinced him that 999 was just for emergencies, the man has switched to the police’s other hotline for nonemergency cases, 901.

Lt-Col Bu Shihab was speaking during a Press conference

held to announce the features of their swanky new operations room.

Speaking of other calls they have had to deal with, the officer said some people dialled 999 during Ramadan to ask if it was Maghrib yet so they could break their fast.

“These kind of calls will not be registered in the system and some of them can be amusing,” said Lt-Col Bu Shihab.

He said the majority of non-emergency calls are “accidental”, while the rest typically involve silent callers or children.