Crime & Safety

Police Reports: Accidental 911 Call

If you accidentally call 911, stay on the line.

At 5:20 Wednesday evening, a dispatcher received a 911 call. The line was silent and the caller hung up.

The dispatcher immediately called back, but no one answered the phone.

Police officers raced to the address, only to find a child had made the call.

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There was no emergency.

But Lt. Brian McCauley said a parent should have taken the phone and explained the situation to the dispatcher.

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"If you dial 911 in error stay on the phone until the dispatcher answers it," he said Thursday. "We can assess it with you. We will still have an officer respond."

When there is a hang up and no answer when the dispatcher calls back, McCauley said it affects the level of the emergency response.

"We can tailor our response to the call by knowing the details," he explained.

No following the protocol for 911 calls can sometimes lead to serious consequences.

For instance, if a couple fights during a domestic dispute and one rips the phone out of their spouse's hand when the person's trying to call 911 or interrupts the call to tell the dispatcher "everything is fine," he could find himself in hot water.

"If you disrupt someone's call, you can be charged with interfering with a 911 call," McCauley said. "Interference with emergency calls is a class A misdemeanor, the highest misdemeanor, punishable for up to a year in jail."

The charge, 53a-183b, is defined as acting "with the intent of preventing a person from making a 911 call to police or another law enforcement agency to request police protection or report the commission of a crime."


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