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Pocket dial 911? What should you do?

Posted at 5:29 AM, Jul 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-23 10:06:22-04

CORPUS CHRISTI – The Corpus Christi Police Department’s Metrocom emergency line receives hundreds of calls a day, but how many of those calls are unintentional?

When Metrocom call takers receive a pocket dial with silence or muffled sound on the other end of the call, they are left to determine whether or not the situation is an actual crisis.

“We have to treat every call as an emergency until we can determine otherwise. If someone dials 911 and the call taker isn’t able to make contact with anyone, we’ll either have to do a call-back or send an officer to make sure that everything is okay,” Carrie Guajardo said.

Those instances tie up valuable time and resources necessary to serve those experiencing legitimate emergencies.

Metrocom officials said a caller will not be punished for this kind of mishap, but do ask that the caller communicates the problem with the dispatcher on the other end of the line.

Additionally, Guajardo added that even cell phones no longer in service are able to complete 911 calls. Keep this in mind when handing your old phones over to children to use as a toy.