111 Police Emergency

Call 111 and ask for Police when -

• people are injured or in danger; or
• there is a serious, immediate, or imminent risk to life or property; or
• a crime is being or has just been committed and the offenders are still at the scene or have just left.

If you can’t decide if it’s a real emergency and you’re still worried, call 111 and ask the operator. They will help you work out what to do.

Reporting options for non-emergency situations are available via the Police Non-Emergency service.

Alternative Police contacts for non-emergency situations can be accessed on the Police website.

Who operates 111?

• 111 is operated by Spark and regulated by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
• Police, FENZ and Ambulance Services are consumers of the 111 Service operated by Spark.

More information about the 111 Service can be accessed on the New Zealand Government and Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment websites.

Mobile cellular network callers

• For calls made to 111 on a mobile cellular network, Police Emergency receives Emergency Caller Location Information (ECLI).

To access more detailed information about ECLI please refer to the Next Generation Critical Communications (NGCC) website.

Emergency Caller Location Information

When you dial 111 from a mobile phone, data that helps determine the location of your handset is automatically sent to the Emergency Caller Location Information system (ECLI). The system is overseen by SafetyNet Critical Communications Ltd (SafetyNet). This data is provided by your mobile network operator (for all device types) and by supported Android or iOS smartphones.

The Emergency Caller Location Information system turns that data into information about your handset's likely location. Authorised emergency service agencies (Fire and Emergency New Zealand, New Zealand Police, Hato Hone St John, and Wellington Free Ambulance) are allowed to use this location information to help verify where you are calling from, so they can respond to the emergency as quickly as possible.

The Device Location Information (DLI) service builds on the existing Emergency Caller Location Information service (ECLI). DLI allows emergency services to request a phone’s location if:

• there hasn’t been a 111 call from the device, or where a 111 call has ended unexpectedly, and
• there’s a situation deemed to be a serious threat to a person’s life or health as reported by someone else, for example, a friend or family member.
• many calls to 111 are made by people concerned about others who are not with them, for example, someone who is lost, missing or threatening self-harm.

DLI helps emergency services respond faster and more effectively in these situations.

The provision of this information is authorised by the Privacy Commissioner, via the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020.

Find out more about the Emergency Caller Location Information system on SafetyNet’s website.