Is the 911 number abused too much?

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primalclaws1974

Well-Known Member
I have heard some really ludicrous reasons for people to call 911, and people do get in trouble for it. A guy I worked with got in a fight with another guy I worked with. When the second guy threatened him, he called 911. Because it was just two guys that knew each other, it was considered a non-emergency, and he spent two days in jail over it. But this puts out a message to others that you shouldn't use it, because you could get in trouble. I can understand really stupid reasons getting people in trouble, but someone threatening you should have been okay. Thoughts?
 
Two days in jail because of it??? Wow, that seems like a hefty consequence.

I posted a question similar to this on the forum because I was curious, too. I think there's such a fine line between calling the number appropriately and "abusing" it.

It seems to me that if you think there's a chance it's an emergency, you should call.

What would happen if you call the non-emergency number with an actual emergency? Do you have to hang up and call 911, or can they transfer you right over?
 
I imagine they would handle the situation, since 911 is fairly local anyway. Unless someone is calling in false reports, or calling and saying that so-and-so ripped them off in a drug deal (which has actually happened more than once), they should cut some slack to people. This could cause some people to pause in a serious situation, trying to decide if it was serious enough, and could put lives on the line.
 
primalclaws1974 said:
A guy I worked with got in a fight with another guy I worked with. When the second guy threatened him, he called 911. Because it was just two guys that knew each other, it was considered a non-emergency, and he spent two days in jail over it.
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Yea, I'm going to call Bull on this. Anytime someone is threatened you should call 911 because theres no telling if the person who did it was being serious or when exactly they might make good on their threat. I'm also going to point out that the police would first fine you for abusing 911 and not just arrest you. If he spent time in Jail it was NOT because he called 911 but for some other reason.
 
Threats should be taken seriously by the police. How many people have been murdered by their friends? Maybe the police figured out that since the man was able to call them he was relatively safe? For some many ridiculous calls to the police for example to report that you can't access Facebook, that's an entirely different matter. However when someone calls the police to report a threat, it should be treated as serious because, people snap and get to be homicidal.
 
I remembered watching an episode of "Worlds Dumbest criminals" and a 40 something year old lady was arrested for wasting a 911 call. She wanted to know the name of the officer who drove by her house. The 911 operator was frustrated with this lady and even asked her that she called 911 just to get the name of the officer who drove by her house. I was just laughing because in the end she got to spend a night in jail.
 
My husband, and I use to get into some pretty good fights. We would both be drinking when this happened. I would call 911 on him, or he would on me. It got to the point that this was happening several times a month. We wouldn't get locked up, but we were warned if it continued we'd both be facing a fine for it. So I can see were using the system for petty purposes should warranty a fine or maybe jail time.
 
Any time there is a threat 911 should be called and I am appalled that someone would get 2 days in jail making the phone call. I have been on the other end of this in which I have called in incidents to the non emergency line that I did not feel were 911 worthy and the dispatchers actually told me to hang up and call it in to 911. I was shocked because I felt that it was a waste of a call to 911 when something much more serious could be happening.
 
Kittyworker said:
Yea, I'm going to call Bull on this. Anytime someone is threatened you should call 911 because theres no telling if the person who did it was being serious or when exactly they might make good on their threat. I'm also going to point out that the police would first fine you for abusing 911 and not just arrest you. If he spent time in Jail it was NOT because he called 911 but for some other reason.
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Agreed. If this were the case so many situations would escalate because no one COULD dial 911 to prevent it. Either this is bull or there are huge parts missing from this story.
 
It is definitely abused in that situation because they could have resolved their issue on their own without having to call 911. I haven’t called 911 for years because I assure that I only call during emergencies or really grave situations. Too bad that these situations happen because the 911 is there for help and emergency situations but only taken for granted by some people.
 
Yes,it is but to curb unwanted calls we must impose a restriction on nature of call and have separate lines for casual issues.911 alone doesn't suffice for all those calls what includes prank and hoax calls too.
 
I suppose it really depends where you are located. I live in the state of Tennessee, and there aren't really many people who prank call or call 911 for stupid reasons. Occasionally, you may see or hear some people call 911 for stupid reasons such as there's a dead chicken in the road or something. I am unsure what some other states go through with 911 calls, but I honestly think it depends on where you live.
 
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