A New York woman made over 24,000 fake calls to 911 before her arrest.Ī far more common scenario is inadvertent dialing, especially with phones that are programmed to auto-dial 911. There was no evidence that such a person existed. A Florida woman was arrested in mid 2019 after repeatedly calling and asking police for assistance in contacting a person she claimed was harassing her. Residents reported wait times to speak with a 911 operator during “life-threatening situations” of up to 12 minutes, and a stroke victim died when it took three calls by his landlord to get help.įor those who repeatedly call 911 when there’s no emergency, either carelessly or maliciously, the penalties can be severe. The city of Colorado Springs, CO was struggling to hire enough 911 operators as of late 2018, and slow response times made the news.
While technology like improved GPS technology, support for smartphones, and text message capability in some areas has made modern 911 call centers more efficient, the process still depends on human beings answering phones-one call at a time. Nationwide, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) estimates that "Americans make about 240 million emergency and nonemergency 911 calls a year."
Given that these operators must cover shifts at their center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays-and allowing for sick days and vacations-very few dispatchers might be available at any given time to serve almost 200,000 people and the 246,290 emergency calls that Little Rock received in 2017.
#NON EMERGENCY POLICE LINE FULL#
But you might be surprised at how few 911 dispatchers are available, even in larger cities, and how busy they can be.įor example, in late 2018, Little Rock, Arkansas had a total of 57 911 operators-11 short of their full strength. Many people visualize a 911 dispatch center as a place where vast numbers of operators await calls from the public.
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