Emergency service 112 is on the attention of the whole world after a young woman was kidnapped and killed in Caracal, with part of the blame thrown including on those behind this system that saved many lives. Although STS was initially blamed for the bad location, now the blame is turned on the 112 operator who took the initial calls, and did not have a correct attitude, to ask for more information about the girl's location.
112 is bombarded daily, literally, with 34.000 false calls by Romanian citizens, the operators being either insulted or made to send the emergency crews on false tracks, all without repercussions on the majority of those who generate the problems. 70% of 112 calls are abusive or false, and a group of PSD MPs wants to toughen the penalties for those who have such practices, and this is an extraordinarily good idea.
112. ATTENTION! New IMPORTANT Change Prepared in Romania
According to the draft law, the penalties for abusive or false calls made to the 112 emergency service will be punished with fines of up to 8000 LEI, or up to 800 hours of community service. At the moment the fines are between 500 and 1000 LEI, but of course they have to be applied by someone, something that doesn't really happen, especially since STS can't even do location, and prepaid calls are impossible to locate.
"The mild punishments so far have led to an alarming situation: 70% of calls to 112 are abusive or are false alerts. Every day are recorded: 34.000 abusive calls (with swearing and stupid questions or simply keep the line busy), and others send emergency crews to non-existent events. At the same time, recidivism within 1 year of sanctioning is punishable by a fine from 4.000 to 8.000 lei or the equivalent of 25% to 100% of the costs generated by falsely alerting specialized agencies or providing from 400 to 800 hours of activities for the benefit of the community."
The fact that 70% of the calls received by the 112 emergency service are actually abusive or false, shows what kind of society we live in, and how little people care about saving other people's lives. Calls of this kind can prevent the taking over of others who can save lives, 112 being, unfortunately, the target for people who should receive even harsher fines for these practices, but no one will apply them, unfortunately.
