COPS: 20% of 911 cell calls 'butt dials'...
If you’ve ever received a call because someone you know “butt-dialed” you, you know how annoying it can be. But when someone “butt-dials” 911, it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a public safety issue.
As CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole reports, officials in Evanston say that nearly 20 percent of the wireless calls they get each month are “unintentional” or “abandoned” calls; and they believe the vast majority of those unintentional cell phone calls are butt dials.
Emergency workers said those kinds of calls waste valuable time and could put people at risk.
About 500 times each month, someone mistakenly dials the Evanston 911 center from their cell phone and that’s only part of the story.
“I don’t think the public realizes how often this happens,” Evanston 911 Coordinator Perry Polinski said.
He said about 90 percent of those unintentional calls are the result of someone fumbling around in their purse or sitting on their cell phone and accidentally speed dialing 911.
“When you consider the number of these types of calls that we receive, it really taxes our resources,” Polinski said.
Operators have to stay on the line until the call drops, then call back the number to see if there’s a real emergency. Since cell phones can only be tracked by general location, in extreme cases officers are dispatched to find whoever might be in distress.
“The chances of that happening are slim, but we’ve – a couple times probably, over the past few years – have had to basically launch a search party to locate somebody,” Polinski said.
Read more - http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/01/with-growing-cell-phone-use-butt-dials-to-911-also-rising/
If you’ve ever received a call because someone you know “butt-dialed” you, you know how annoying it can be. But when someone “butt-dials” 911, it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a public safety issue.
As CBS 2’s Vince Gerasole reports, officials in Evanston say that nearly 20 percent of the wireless calls they get each month are “unintentional” or “abandoned” calls; and they believe the vast majority of those unintentional cell phone calls are butt dials.
Emergency workers said those kinds of calls waste valuable time and could put people at risk.
About 500 times each month, someone mistakenly dials the Evanston 911 center from their cell phone and that’s only part of the story.
“I don’t think the public realizes how often this happens,” Evanston 911 Coordinator Perry Polinski said.
He said about 90 percent of those unintentional calls are the result of someone fumbling around in their purse or sitting on their cell phone and accidentally speed dialing 911.
“When you consider the number of these types of calls that we receive, it really taxes our resources,” Polinski said.
Operators have to stay on the line until the call drops, then call back the number to see if there’s a real emergency. Since cell phones can only be tracked by general location, in extreme cases officers are dispatched to find whoever might be in distress.
“The chances of that happening are slim, but we’ve – a couple times probably, over the past few years – have had to basically launch a search party to locate somebody,” Polinski said.
Read more - http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/01/with-growing-cell-phone-use-butt-dials-to-911-also-rising/
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