911 ‘misdials’ divert valuable time from real emergencies in South Simcoe
South Simcoe Police Service is reminding the public about the proper use of 911 following a rash of pocket dials and inappropriate calls this month.
While a majority are made while a person’s mobile phone was in a pocket or a toddler’s curious hands, others are the result of residents clearly not understanding what constitutes an emergency.
Case in point is one example this month of a resident dialing 911 for police help with a bird flying around their bedroom.
On compassionate grounds, officers did try to help the distressed caller with a visit to the home.
While the suspect bird had flown the coop or, in this case, the bedroom after the caller followed the advice of the 911 communicator to leave the window open, the victim of the “avian invasion” was given a stern caution by officers regarding the proper use of 911.
“While we don’t want to discourage people from dialing the emergency phone number, we want to remind people that it is for emergencies only, such as a crime in progress, a fire or a medical emergency,” police spokesperson Sue Sgambati said.
Dozens of inappropriate calls were logged with South Simcoe’s communications centre this month alone.
They included a man trying to call a money-transfer company; a call from a four-year-old who was recently taught about 911 and “wanted to try it out”; pocket dials from people on a motorcycle and a golf cart; and a man who said his phone was blacked out and kept dialing into emergency mode.
Calls to 911 can be made from a number of smartphones, even while the phone is locked. The feature is aimed at increasing consumer safety, but often results in countless calls being mistakenly made to dispatchers, who then need to use valuable time to determine the validity of the call.
If you accidentally call 911, police urge you to stay on the line and let the communicator know what happened.
“When an unintentional 911 caller hangs up, that could be considered an ‘unknown trouble’ call and police will respond, taking away valuable time and resources from someone who really needs help,” Sgambati added.
Police are urging the public to “lock it before you pocket it” and advise against letting children play with mobile phones in an effort to reduce the amount on non-emergency calls flooding system operators.
Children should not be given old cell phones as toys. Many decommissioned phones can still dial 911, even without a SIM card.
Locking a cellphone’s screen can also prevent an unintentional 911 call from being activated by an accidental swipe of the highly sensitive touch screens.
In 2017, South Simcoe’s communication staff answered 5,611 calls to 911. Of those, 419 — or 7 per cent — were misdials.
For non-emergencies, you can contact South Simcoe Police at or .