Recently, a person told RTL that it had taken them a quarter of an hour to get through to the 113 police emergency line. In an initial statement, they said they had waited 15 minutes in the queue before someone answered. The incident concerned a theft in which the presumed perpetrator was still on site at the time.
Following an inquiry by RTL, the police press office reviewed the call in detail and communicated the findings transparently.
According to the police, the person first called at 15:25:09 and remained in the 113 waiting queue for 42 seconds before hanging up. At that moment, three other lines were busy.
At 15:27:02, the person tried again and stayed in the waiting queue for 1 minute and 27 seconds before ending the call. At 15:31:08, the person then tried a third time. This call was answered after 53 seconds.
Between the first call and the moment the phone was answered, just under seven minutes had therefore passed.
The police press office explained that many calls were coming in simultaneously to 113 at that moment, leading to longer waiting times.
Police also reminded the public that in an emergency they should never hang up. In the waiting queue, callers would otherwise repeatedly fall to the back.
