Milpitas Police Ask Public's Help in Reducing Fake 9-1-1 Calls

Milpitas police receive 20 to 30 false 9-1-1 calls every day, according to Officer Mark Doyle, and are now asking for the public’s help in reducing them.

The calls tie up phone lines and distract them from real emergencies, said Doyle. Until February 2010, cell phone 9-1-1 calls were directed to California Highway Patrol, but now go directly to 9-1-1 dispatchers at local police departments.

“Emergency dispatchers are required to monitor your call for several minutes to discriminate between muffled voices with sounds of a struggle and an unintentional dialing of a phone as it bounces around in your pocket or purse,” said Doyle.

To reduce the calls, Doyle advised people to lock their cell phones before placing them in their pockets to avoid “pocket dialing.”

People should furthermore remove the batteries from inactive cell phones before giving them to children as toys, added Doyle, since 9-1-1 calls can be made without a cell phone plan.

He also advised parents to explain to their children the problems created with prank 9-1-1 calls.

People should also dial phone numbers carefully, especially those with a back-to-back 9-1 in them, to avoid “errant dialing,” said Doyle. But if they do accidentally make a 9-1-1 calls, they should stay on the line to reassure emergency dispatchers that the call was a mistake.

“Otherwise,” said Doyle, “valuable time is required to try to locate where the call came from.”