911, what is your emergency?

Dunklin County 911 Director Richard LaMunion, front, and operator James Foster, back, recently discussed "crank calls" and the consequences of such calls for both the 911 service and the individuals making the calls. Staff photo by George Anderson [Click to enlarge]

According to Richard LaMunion, Dunklin County 911 director, the local service receives a lot of "crank calls" and some area residents even call 911 for inappropriate reasons.

"We get calls wanting to know what time it is," LaMunion said.

"People call and put their kids up to saying stuff and it just ties up our lines," LaMunion added.

LaMunion also stated that they receive a lot of calls from discarded cell phones.

"Even without a SIM card, the phone can still call 911," LaMunion said.

"People should not allow their children to play with a cell phone that has a battery because they can accidently call 911," LaMunion added. He also suggested that people recycle their old phones as an effort to reduce cell phone "crank calls."

The service does have ways of tracking the erroneous calls. With the old 911 system, LaMunion said they could only track the number the call came from. After a system upgrade, LaMunion stated that, "now we can tell where the person is standing when they make the call." This was done in an effort to cut down on "crank calls."

LaMunion stated that if a person makes "crank calls" and are located by law enforcement, that person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The 911 service is an emergency service. It is meant to be used for emergencies only, such as theft, robbery, or a medical emergency.

"If the lines are tied up [with fake calls], you won't be able to get through if you do have an emergency," said LaMunion.