Pocket diallers and dead cell phones reaching out to emergency services from apparent obsolescence, are causing headaches for local Mounties.
Last year the Southeast District Operational Communications Centre conducted a time measurement survey to determine how much time was spent dealing with abandoned 911 calls, and the total was overwhelming.
“Over a 30 day period an average of 133.4 abandoned calls were received daily,” said Const. Kris Clark, noting that last week, an officer complained of dealing with five abandoned calls within an hour.
“This amounted to just over seven man hours per day, in the communications centre, but also resulted in over 28 files being created for police officers to investigate.”
Each of those files, ballparked Clark, causes another hour of work as Mounties have to conduit background checks, attend the registered owners home, determine that emergency services are not required and then document the file.
Basically, these calls amount to more work hours than actual hours in the day and the culprit was largely cell phones.
“Over the last two years, police have received about 46,000 abandoned 911 calls a year, 26,000 of which were from cell phones,” said Clark, noting that deactivated cell phones and pocket diallers are the problem.
When it comes to pocket diallers, Clark said a simple follow-up call to explain what’s happened is the best way forward. He also recommends wearing a holster and figuring out how to lock your keypad.
Deactivated cellphones, however, are a bit tricker.
Turns out that the service may be shut off, but 911 calls are forever possible if a phone has the slightest charge.
Although it may not be a problem if the phone stays in a drawer, it becomes an issue when they’re turned over to kiddies who like the bright lights and buttons.
To ensure that doesn’t happen, Clark recommends removing the battery. No bright lights to entertain the kiddies, but no distracting the police from their real work either.
