Friday, June 11th 2021, 9:52 pm
The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said dispatchers are seeing a dramatic increase in accidental 911 calls.
Accidental calls are up by more than 12%.
“A lot of it what we are attributing it to is the smart phone, specifically the iPhone,” said Aaron Brilbeck, Public Information Director for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office.
The SOS feature in Apple’s iOS software allows someone in an emergency to not have to unlock the phone to make a call, instead press two buttons on the phone.
The on-off button and either the volume up or volume down button, if you push them simultaneously, it’ll call 911,” said Brilbeck.
Dispatchers said people often panic and will either immediately hang up or not answer their return calls, sometimes both because they think they may have committed a crime or are in trouble.
Brilbeck said that’s not the case, and ignoring dispatch afterwards is the worst thing you can do.
“Stay on the phone, talk with the dispatcher and explain it was an accidental phone call, that’ll save us a whole lot of work,” Brilbeck said. “Every single time one of these 911 calls come in, they have to be investigated, often times we have to send officers out.”
In emergencies, time is off the essence. Dispatchers said a little help will go a long way.
“They’ve got way too much to do to try and investigate an accidental 911 call,” said Brilbeck.
You can turn off the SOS feature off on your iPhone in settings if you’d like.
The sheriff’s office said It may be a good idea, especially if toddlers or children play with your phone.
June 11th, 2021
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