Wellington County OPP urges residents to make an effort to avoid accidental 911 calls.
So far this year, the detachment has received more than 1,965 accidental emergency 911 calls. Wellington County OPP received, just over 7,400 911 calls, and a quarter of those high-priority calls were accidental.
Police said accidental dials are becoming costly and divert valuable public resources away from where they should be.
Each time a 911 call is placed police need to ensure that there isn't an emergency, requiring a cruiser, two officers and a dispatcher to respond. History shows not everyone who calls 911 for help is able to speak-up so officers must ensure cries for help do not go unheard.
People said old inactive phones call still call 911 and often placing a phone in a pocket or cup holder can trigger the 911 buttons
Police ask residents to remove phones from children's hands and consider turning off the 911 auto-dial if it's not suitable for you. Every 911 call is taken seriously. When a 911 user doesn't respond, that could be a sign of trouble -- a possibility an emergency responded can't ignore.
Other common contributors are users attempting to dial international phone numbers or using the office phone (hitting "9" to get an outside line but then following it with 1 for long-distance). 911 hang-ups/pocket dials are not the exclusive method in which OPP receives calls in error. Security alarm failures also waste resources. But unlike 911 misdial, municipalities often recover costs from the business or homeowner through a bylaw. At this point, the costs of the 911 misdial are spread across everyone, whether you know how to use your phone or not. The OPP are asking everyone to play their part in reducing the number of accidental 911 calls. Understand the features on your phone, If you do place an unintentional 911 call, stay on the line to let the emergency operator know it was a pocket dial or unintentional call.
