Accidental 911 calls are on the rise and police in the Tri-Cities say residents need to be more diligent with their cellphones.
Port Moody Police Const. Jason Maschke said the number of abandoned emergency calls is up 45% in 2018, rising to 427 from 295 the year before.
"Pocket dialing is a big thing we get," he told The Tri-City News.
While accidental 911 calls can sometimes be verified by a dispatcher without the need for sending police, there are times when officers must be diverted to ensure the call is not an emergency.
"We can't just let those hang," Maschke said. "There are occasions when we need to go and physically see someone."
If a person accidentally calls the police, it is important they stay on the line and speak with dispatchers, he added.
The Coquitlam RCMP has had similar issues, noting that abandoned 911 calls were consistently in the top five calls for service last year.
Const. John Graham told The Tri-City News that police understand that mistakes can happen. Often times the abandoned calls are pocket dials or a child playing with a phone, he said.
"Not everyone knows that so long as there's a working battery in an old cellphone, it's capable of dialing 911," he said. "So when giving your kids your old phones, take the battery out, or if the child is old enough, let them know not to call 911 unless it's an emergency."
He added that while locking a device won't completely stop accidental 911 calls, it goes a long way toward eliminating pocket dials.
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