911 Call Considered Prank; Woman Dies
This is heart wrenching (from ClickOnDetroit.com via EMSResponder.com):
DETROIT -- A 6-year-old boy's 911 call for help was thought to be a prank, but the call was real and the boy's mother died, Local 4 reported....
Kimberly Harris, the union president of AFSCME Local 1023, said more than a quarter of phone calls received by 911 operators are prank calls.
There is lots more info at ClickOnDetroit.com.
The area that I live in has few 911 calls just because of a small population base. Every 911 call is investigated by our local police department, even if the call seems to be a prank or a hang-up.
However, if an area that gets thousands of 911 calls per day, prank calls are a serious issue. Police cannot be sent to "prank" calls or hang-ups because of the sheer volume of calls.
So what is the answer? Serious consequences for prank calls should be enforced. Big fines and community service for first time offenders and jail time for repeat offenders.
Comments
My husband is the Emergency Manager for Fall River and Shannon counties in South Dakota, so we have the police scanner on most of the time. I just heard the Hot Springs, SD police respond to a 911 call. After the response, the police officer notified the dispatcher that she had taken care of the call and that the caller had been told NOT to call 911 again since he would not be able to reach the President of the United States to tell him that this country is really messed up. If he needed to talk to the President, he should not call 911. Call was at approximately 10pm tonight, April 11, 2006.
Nancy Maynard
Posted by: Nancy Maynard at April 11, 2006 11:32 PM
Yup, these are the types of calls where the caller should receive some type of punishment for messing with 911 system.
Thanks for the comment.
Joe
Posted by: Joe at April 12, 2006 08:45 AM
