Rising demand so police seek civilians to take up the call

Zane Micallef, on duty in the police Operations room, is using his role as way of gaining more knowledge before applying to join the sworn ranks. Picture: Karleen Minney

When an explosion rocked Belconnen around 7pm on a quiet Monday evening in late December last year, 16 emergency Triple Zero calls were routed to police within seconds.

"The [phone] lines just lit up," acting Inspector Ryan O'Hara recalled.