Over 500,000 calls were made on the police emergency number this year alone, it was revealed today by Commissioner of Police John Rizzo.

Mr Rizzo was speaking about the emergency number whilst at the police control room in Floriana emphasising that today, February 11, is "emergency number awareness day". He argued that the number saves many lives each year, however one out of four people still do not know that it is 112. He stated that the department still receive calls regarding incidents which did not happen. “This results in a waste of resources,” he concluded.

PN candidate Beppe Fenech Adami indicated that most countries within the EU use 112 as their emergency number. He explained that at any given time, there are at least four to five police officers manning the hotline, adding that a number of calls get re-directed to the Civil Protection Department as well as the ambulance service.