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I'm travelling from the UK to the Czech Republic soon.

The UK foreign travel advice for the Czech Republic includes the following (bold emphasis is mine):

Beware of bogus plain-clothes policemen, who may ask to see your foreign currency and passport. If approached, don’t show your money, but offer instead to go with them to the nearest police station. If you suspect that you are dealing with a bogus police officer, you can call 158 or 112 to check their identity. No police officer in the Czech Republic has the right to check your money or its authenticity.

It is my understanding that 112 is an emergency number and checking a police officer's identity doesn't seem like an emergency. Is it acceptable to call 112 in this situation?

LJD200
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1 Answers1

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Yes, but might be better to call 158.

Pretending to be a police officer is a crime (at least in Czechia). If you suspect a crime, you're expected to call the police. Obviously, if you suspect that the guy standing next to you is a fake policeman, your property or health may be in imminent danger, so you're perfectly entitled to call the emergency number.

That said, the main emergency number for the police is 158, so it's better to call that directly. 112 is an alternative number that connects you to the central emergency dispatch (actually operated by the fire department), which will in turn connect you to either the police (158), the fire department (150), or the ambulance (155), as appropriate. The result will be the same, but going through 112 will take somewhat longer.

However, unlike line 112, the national emergency numbers (150/155/156/158) don't guarantee English-speaking operators. If the operator doesn't speak English, you'll be simply connected to line 112. (According to the police spokeswoman, in Czech.)

TooTea
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