Elderly Bethany Woman Arrested For Repeatedly Drunk-Dialing 911

Bethany police say 70-year-old Gail Kemp has called the 911 dispatch center with no emergency for several years.

Tuesday, January 29th 2013, 10:36 pm

By: News 9


An elderly Bethany woman is in jail right now because she continues to drunk dial 911. Bethany police say 70-year-old Gail Kemp has called the 911 dispatch center with no emergency for several years.

This is the third time in the past six months Bethany police say they've had to file charges. Kemp has been warned repeatedly by police, but she continued to call the Bethany 911 dispatch center, just to talk.

Bethany police released some recent 911 calls made by Kemp.

911 Dispatcher: "Is this an emergency?"

Gail Kemp: "No!"

911 Dispatcher: "Okay, if this is not an emergency, you do not need to be calling 911."

Gail Kemp: "What number do I call then, give me a number!"

Kemp is well known at Bethany Police headquarters. Police say the 70-year-old calls the 911 emergency system at least three times a week.

911 Dispatcher: "What do you need Gail?"

Gail Kemp: "Someone to talk to, just for a few minutes."

"And the officers have tried to explain to her several times that 911 is for emergencies, we can't have people calling who just want to talk," said Bethany Deputy Chief, John Reed.

But, over the years Reed says the calls began to progress, and become excessive. On one call, Kemp is placed on hold so the 911 dispatcher could answer an actual emergency.

Gail Kemp: "What was all that buzzing!"

911 Dispatcher. "I had to place you on hold, because I had an emergency call about a fire on the other line."

Gail Kemp: "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry about that. I'm sorry darling."

When police arrived at her home for her latest arrest Saturday, police say Kemp was drinking vodka, and appeared drunk. In one 911 call, her speech is so slurred, it's hard to understand what she's saying.

"We just felt we had no other choice, we had to contact family to help us with the situation," said Reed. "We just exhausted every avenue that we could, before we had to take these steps."

Bethany police continuously give Kemp the departments non-emergency number for calls. Police say they will continue to file charges against Kemp until they get her attention.

There is only one person working in the Bethany 911 Center at all times, and News 9 is told, it's very rare more than two people are available to answer emergency calls.

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