Dateline: June 7, 2007

Officials say kids abusing 911 system

Old cellular phones can pose a problem for emergency personnel when children get their hands on them.

That’s the message from local and area officials this week following numerous phony 911 calls that have been received by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office.

Dispatcher Cheryl Phillips said the sheriff’s office began getting crank cell phone calls about a month ago, and the problem has gotten worse.

“We had about ten in a row last Friday plus others throughout the day,” Phillips said.

Panhandle Regional 911 Network Program Director Richard G. Green said the problem stems from an FCC rule that requires wireless carriers to accept 911 calls from any wireless phone, even those that are not subscribed to a wireless service.

As a result, any cell phone with any battery power can call the 911 emergency system. If parents give their old cell phone to their kids as a toy and don’t remove the battery, it is possible to call 911.

Green said the problem is not unique to Donley County.

“It became a big problem over Christmas in Dalhart,” he said. “A girl called 911 and claimed she was being abducted from the Payless shoe store in Westgate Mall. Such a store does not exist but has to be treated as real.”

Some unintentional calls can also be generated thanks to handsets with a one-button 911 calling feature, which can be activated when the phone is placed in a purse, bag, or back pocket; but the bigger problem remains children playing games with old phones.

“The 911 system is really being compromised when resources are used to respond to false claims,” Green said.

Phillips said local officials haven’t had the problem of crank 911 calls to this extent before, but she said that it can be considered a criminal offense.

“We have arrested people before on the charge of Misuse of the Emergency or 911 System, which is a Class A misdemeanor,” Phillips said. “People don’t understand that when 911 rings, we drop everything and go into emergency mode here.”

Green said the problem is a double-edge sword because society teaches kids to dial 911, and some do so just out of curiosity.

The best thing for parents to do, Green said, is take the battery out of cell phones that kids are using as toys.