Tang Ping-Keung Hopes Public Will Use Social Apps to Report Cases, Making On-Site Assessment More Precise

The Policy Address proposes enhancing the 999 emergency help service. Secretary for Security Tang Ping-Keung said the new function upgrades the current voice-based 999 help service to real-time video calls, hoping the public will in future report cases using commonly available social apps such as WhatsApp and WeChat. He stressed the measure is not replacing the 999 phone line, but adding sound, image and visual information to the emergency help process. He believes it will not affect the 999 answering speed, but instead give operators more on-site information, making on-site assessment, resource deployment and overall response more precise and faster.