‘Curious’ child calls 911 hundreds of times in a day
By Medicine Hat News on August 14, 2020.
Medicine Hat Police Service investigated a complaint involving an overwhelming number of frivolous 911 phone calls and determined the source was a “curious five-year-old.” A Thursday MHPS release said the Medicine Hat 911 communication centre received hundreds of calls over a 24-hour period from a disconnected cellular phone in the city, suspecting that a child was playing with an inactive phone. MHPS updated the situation a few hours later after uncovering the source of the calls. “It was found to be a curious five-year-old who had been calling us,” reads the update. “We would like to thank those parents and family members who checked with their children and their devices to help us find the source of these calls.” The previous release pointed out that inactive phones “maintain communication with the cellular network as a safety mechanism for 911 emergencies only. When 911 communication lines are tied up, these types of frivolous calls can prevent legitimate 911 emergencies from being reported or attended by local emergency services.” MHPS is asking parents to monitor children to ensure they aren’t calling 911 from inactive phones, and is requesting that children not be given old phones as toys. 6-5
