911 pocket dials nuisance for Hamilton police

Everyone has received a pocket dial, but how often is the number 911?

Last year, Hamilton police received 56,967 of those dials — when a call is made accidentally from a cellphone without the user’s knowledge.

That means more than a quarter of the 911 calls sent to Hamilton police in 2016 were accidental dials.

Staff Sgt. Phil Fleming says pocket dials and dropped calls have been a consistent issue for three years.

“We have been looking at trying to educate people,” Fleming said.

Most cellphones have an emergency call option that will connect to a network regardless of whether the phone is on a plan or has a SIM card installed.

“Some people will give (old devices) to their child as a toy, and the battery and SIM card are in there and they’ll call,” Fleming said. “And that ties us up because we have to call back that number and make sure it’s not an emergency.”

Police recommend that people remove SIM cards and batteries from old devices so they don’t mistakenly dial an emergency line.

Police receive calls through a computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system where dispatchers are able to gather basic information from a

caller, take account of the situation and tend to the emergency.

In the event of a dropped call or pocket dial, emergency services must redial the number to ensure the safety of the caller.

If an emergency can’t be verified, an officer could be sent to the location of the call.

The emergency call function of smartphones can only make calls, not receive them, making it difficult to track down some pocket dialers for verification of an emergency.

Hamilton police released its call statistics last week to commemorate International Emergency Communicators Week to honour emergency dispatchers for their dedication to the service.