THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Stop giving kids old cell phones to play with. That's the message from the RCMP as the number of abandoned 911 calls
decline and police continue their effort to reduce this diversion of
police resources. That's because it's deactivated cell phones — often given to children
to play with — that are most likely to be used when it comes to
abandoned calls to 911. Cell phones that no longer have a cellular plan
and are no longer registered to anyone can still make a 911 call when
the battery is charged. The calls show a 911 prefix rather than the
local exchange making it almost impossible for police to find the
location. Instead of giving the phones to children, the RCMP recommends
recycling them. Police have a duty to investigate all calls to 911 even those abandoned
by the caller. Between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2012, the Central Okanagan
received 2974 abandoned calls and each required hours of follow-up to
determine if emergency services were required. During the same period in
2013, police received 2537 abandoned 911 calls, a 15 per cent decrease
from the previous year. Of all abandoned calls, only one per cent
resulted in necessary police action. Cell phone users in general are the main contributor to abandoned 911
calls, often "pocket dialing" police, but the numbers are decreasing. To
avoid pocket dialing, lock your phone, keep your phone in a case or
holster and if you place a pocket dial call, answer the follow-up call.
The few minutes taken talking to the dispatcher will prevent police
resources from being diverted unnecessarily. Those who still want to give old cells phones to children as toys can
at the very least recycle the battery so it can no longer be powered on
to make false emergency calls.
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