U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

www.cops.usdoj.gov

Misuse and

Abuse of 911

by

Rana Sampson

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides Series No. 19
www.PopCenter.org

Got a Problem? We’ve got answers!

Log onto the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing website

at www.popcenter.org for a wealth of information to help

you deal more effectively with crime and disorder in your

community, including:

• Web-enhanced versions of all currently available Guides

• Interactive training exercises

• On-line access to research and police practices

Designed for police and those who work with them to

address community problems, www.popcenter.org is a great

resource in problem-oriented policing.

Supported by the Office of Community Oriented Policing

Services, U.S. Department of Justice.

Center for Problem-Oriented Policing
Misuse and Abuse of

911

Rana Sampson

This project was supported by cooperative agreement 

#99-CK-WX-K004 by the Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions

contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not

necessarily represent the official position of the U.S.

Department of Justice.

www.cops.usdoj.gov

ISBN: 1-932582-18-5

August 2004

Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides Series

Guide No. 19

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series i

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series

The Problem-Specific Guides summarize knowledge about

how police can reduce the harm caused by specific crime

and disorder problems. They are guides to prevention and

to improving the overall response to incidents, not to

investigating offenses or handling specific incidents. The

guides are written for police–of whatever rank or

assignment–who must address the specific problem the

guides cover. The guides will be most useful to officers

who

• Understand basic problem-oriented policing

principles and methods. The guides are not primers in

problem-oriented policing. They deal only briefly with

the initial decision to focus on a particular problem,

methods to analyze the problem, and means to assess

the results of a problem-oriented policing project. They

are designed to help police decide how best to analyze

and address a problem they have already identified. (An

assessment guide has been produced as a companion to

this series and the COPS Office has also published an

introductory guide to problem analysis. For those who

want to learn more about the principles and methods of

problem-oriented policing, the assessment and analysis

guides, along with other recommended readings, are

listed at the back of this guide.)

• Can look at a problem in depth. Depending on the

complexity of the problem, you should be prepared to

spend perhaps weeks, or even months, analyzing and

responding to it. Carefully studying a problem before

responding helps you design the right strategy, one that

is most likely to work in your community. You should

not blindly adopt the responses others have used; you

must decide whether they are appropriate to your local
ii Misuse and Abuse of 911

situation. What is true in one place may not be true

elsewhere; what works in one place may not work

everywhere.

• Are willing to consider new ways of doing police

business. The guides describe responses that other

police departments have used or that researchers have

tested. While not all of these responses will be

appropriate to your particular problem, they should help

give a broader view of the kinds of things you could do.

You may think you cannot implement some of these

responses in your jurisdiction, but perhaps you can. In

many places, when police have discovered a more

effective response, they have succeeded in having laws

and policies changed, improving the response to the

problem.

• Understand the value and the limits of research

knowledge. For some types of problems, a lot of useful

research is available to the police; for other problems, little

is available. Accordingly, some guides in this series

summarize existing research whereas other guides illustrate

the need for more research on that particular problem.

Regardless, research has not provided definitive answers to

all the questions you might have about the problem. The

research may help get you started in designing your own

responses, but it cannot tell you exactly what to do. This

will depend greatly on the particular nature of your local

problem. In the interest of keeping the guides readable, not

every piece of relevant research has been cited, nor has

every point been attributed to its sources. To have done so

would have overwhelmed and distracted the reader. The

references listed at the end of each guide are those drawn

on most heavily; they are not a complete bibliography of

research on the subject.
About the Problem-Specific Guides Series iii

• Are willing to work with other community agencies

to find effective solutions to the problem. The police

alone cannot implement many of the responses

discussed in the guides. They must frequently implement

them in partnership with other responsible private and

public entities. An effective problem-solver must know

how to forge genuine partnerships with others and be

prepared to invest considerable effort in making these

partnerships work.

These guides have drawn on research findings and police

practices in the United States, the United Kingdom,

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and

Scandinavia. Even though laws, customs and police

practices vary from country to country, it is apparent that

the police everywhere experience common problems. In a

world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, it is

important that police be aware of research and successful

practices beyond the borders of their own countries.

The COPS Office and the authors encourage you to

provide feedback on this guide and to report on your own

agency's experiences dealing with a similar problem. Your

agency may have effectively addressed a problem using

responses not considered in these guides and your

experiences and knowledge could benefit others. This

information will be used to update the guides. If you wish

to provide feedback and share your experiences it should

be sent via e-mail to cops_pubs@usdoj.gov.
iv Misuse and Abuse of 911

For more information about problem-oriented policing,

visit the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing online at

www.popcenter.org or via the COPS website at

www.cops.usdoj.gov. This website offers free online access to:

• the Problem-Specific Guides series,

• the companion Response Guides and Problem-Solving Tools

series,

• instructional information about problem-oriented policing

and related topics,

• an interactive training exercise, and

• online access to important police research and practices.
Acknowledgments v

Acknowledgments

The Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series is very much a

collaborative effort. While each guide has a primary author,

other project team members, COPS Office staff and

anonymous peer reviewers contributed to each guide by

proposing text, recommending research and offering

suggestions on matters of format and style.

The principal project team developing the guide series

comprised Herman Goldstein, professor emeritus, University

of Wisconsin Law School; Ronald V. Clarke, professor of

criminal justice, Rutgers University; John E. Eck, associate

professor of criminal justice, University of Cincinnati;

Michael S. Scott, clinical assistant professor, University of

Wisconsin Law School; Rana Sampson, police consultant, San

Diego; and Deborah Lamm Weisel, director of police

research, North Carolina State University.

Karin Schmerler, Rita Varano and Nancy Leach oversaw the

project for the COPS Office. Megan Tate Murphy

coordinated the peer reviews for the COPS Office. Suzanne

Fregly edited the guides. Research for the guides was

conducted at the Criminal Justice Library at Rutgers

University under the direction of Phyllis Schultze by Gisela

Bichler-Robertson, Rob Guerette and Laura Wyckoff.

The project team also wishes to acknowledge the members of

the San Diego, National City and Savannah police

departments who provided feedback on the guides' format

and style in the early stages of the project, as well as the line

police officers, police executives and researchers who peer

reviewed each guide.

Contents

About the Problem-Specific Guides Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .i

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v

The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Related Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Scope of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Unintentional 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Phantom Wireless 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

911 Misdials and Hang-Up Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Intentional 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Nonemergency 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Prank 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Exaggerated Emergency 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Lonely Complainant 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Understanding Your Local Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Asking the Right Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Impact on 911 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Offenders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Locations/Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Current Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Measuring Your Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Responses to The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Responses to Phantom Wireless 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Responses to Phantom Wireless 911 Calls With Limited Effectiveness . . . . . . . .16

Responses to 911 Misdials and Hang-Up Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Responses to 911 Hang-Up Calls With Limited Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Responses to Nonemergency 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Responses to Prank 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Contents vii
viii Misuse and Abuse of 911

Response to Exaggerated Emergency 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Response to Lonely Complainant 911 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Appendix: Summary of Responses to Misuse and Abuse of 911 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Recommended Readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 1

The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911

This guide addresses the problem of misuse and abuse of

911.† It begins by describing the problem and its scope. It

then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your

local problem, and discusses potential responses to it.

There is little evaluative research on 911 misuse and abuse.

The responses suggested are based on sound problemoriented policing principles, but as new phone technology

poses additional challenges, some responses have yet to be

tested. Thus, this guide is mainly intended to describe an

urgent problem and encourage police agencies to analyze and

address it.

Related Problems

Misuse and abuse of 911 shares some similarities with the

problems listed below, which require their own analysis and

response. This guide does not address these problems:

• multiple 911 calls about the same incident, such as multiple

calls about a traffic accident; and

• false burglar and fire alarm 911 calls (see the False Burglar

Alarms guide in this series).

† The equivalent U.K. emergency

number is 999.
2 Misuse and Abuse of 911

Scope of the Problem

For the purposes of this guide, 911 misuse and abuse is

divided into two categories: unintentional and intentional

calls.† Each category contains different types of 911 misuse

and abuse calls, as described below. While there are no

national surveys detailing the full extent of 911 misuse and

abuse, estimates from various organizations and agencies

suggest the problem is widespread in the United States and

elsewhere. Some of the particulars regarding the calls may

vary depending on local circumstances.

Unintentional 911 Calls

Unintentional calls occur when a person or phone

inadvertently dials 911. This category includes phantom

wireless calls, and misdials and hang-up calls.

Phantom Wireless 911 Calls

Phantom wireless calls are a documented problem in the

United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia,

although other countries where wireless phones are

extensively used probably also experience this problem since

wireless systems are similar, despite location. Such calls occur

for the following reasons:

• Automatic dialing: If a cell phone user inadvertently

presses the 9 or 1 key on a phone preprogrammed to dial

911, the phone automatically dials 911, even without the

user having to press "send." This often happens when a

wireless phone is attached to a belt or in a pocket or purse,

and the 9 or 1 is bumped. Most wireless users are unaware

that their phones are preprogrammed to dial 911 and retail

salespersons do not inform purchasers that their phones are

susceptible to unintentional 911 dialing.

† One reason for using these

categories is that some police

agencies already do so in classifying

911 misuse and abuse calls. A second

reason is that it immediately identifies

the purpose for the call; however,

one must look further to determine if

calls are a misuse or abuse of 911.
The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 3

• Redialing or resending: If, after completing a 911 call, a

wireless caller accidentally presses or bumps the "redial" or

"send" key, the phone dials 911 again. (Note that landline

users may also accidentally redial 911 this way.)

• Random dialing: Some older wireless phones dial 911

when the phone's batteries are low.†

The National Emergency Number Association reports that

phantom wireless calls account for between 25 and 70 percent

of all 911 calls in some U.S. communities. The California

Highway Patrol (currently the handler of nearly all California

wireless 911 calls) estimates that between 1.8 million and 3.6

million of the 6 million wireless 911 calls it receives annually

are phantom. U.K. police estimate they receive 11,000

phantom wireless calls per day to their 999 emergency

number. The wide data variations highlight the need for

further research to pinpoint the scale of the problem.

However, the problem is already serious enough to suggest

that ignoring it could have severe ramifications for police and

legitimate 911 callers.

Of all the 911 misuse and abuse problems this guide

addresses, phantom wireless calls will show the quickest

increase, unless addressed. The U.S. 911 system handles

500,000 calls daily, or about 183 million annually.1 One in four

calls are from wireless phones, a tenfold increase since 1991.2

In the next five years, the number of wireless 911 calls is

expected to double from the current 46 million per year3 to 92

million annually, potentially exacerbating an already significant

phantom call problem.††

† When their batteries are low, some

phones start randomly dialing

numbers, eventually dialing 911. The

call goes through without pressing

the "send" button.

†† As wireless carriers move into

Enhanced 911, Phase II, 911 centers

will be able to locate wireless callers.

However, since so many wireless 911

calls are unintentional, implementing

Phase II will be a less important

lifesaving measure than addressing

the current problem of phantom

calls, since they prolong the time it

takes for dispatchers to respond to

other calls.
4 Misuse and Abuse of 911

911 Misdials and Hang-Up Calls

Misdials and hang-up calls are another 911 problem. Police

suspect that many of these calls occur when callers misdial

area codes similar to 911.† Others result from misdialing of

the international access number–011. In addition, business

Centrex and fax users sometimes dial 9 to get an outside line,

when their phone systems do not require doing so, if the

caller then dials a number starting with 1 and depresses 1

again by accident, the system dials 911 (thus 911 operators

sometimes hear fax static on the line). In 2000, the Pinellas

County, Florida, Emergency Communications Center received

20,646 misdials, accounting for 4 percent of all its 911 calls.††

In Loves Park, Illinois, 3 percent of the 911 calls received in

2000 resulted from area code, international access number

and Centrex misdials.

It is suspected that many misdials end up as hang-up calls,

once the callers realize their mistake. Agencies that have

examined hang-up calls report that a majority are due to caller

misdialing (rather than prank calls or hang-ups for other

reasons). Many agencies instruct citizens not to hang up if

they misdial 911. If a caller hangs up, many agencies conduct

callbacks or dispatch officers to determine if a police or

medical emergency exists.

The number of 911 wireless misdials and hang-ups is

impossible to pin down without caller ID, which would allow

for callbacks to determine the cause. However, without

significant improvements, wireless caller location information

will tax the resources of many 911 centers, unless the

phantom call problem is resolved.

† Such area codes include those for

Wilmington, N.C. (910); Savannah,

Ga. (912); Kansas City, Kan. (913);

Westchester County, N.Y. (914); El

Paso, Texas (915); Sacramento, Calif.

(916); some parts of New York City

(917); Tulsa, Okla. (918); and Raleigh,

N.C. (919).

†† The Pinellas County 911

coordinator collects data on all 911

calls and tracks year-to-year increases

in different types of calls, such as

misdials and hang-ups.
The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 5

Intentional 911 Calls

Callers sometimes deliberately, but inappropriately, dial 911.

Such intentional calls fall under several distinct categories.

Nonemergency 911 Calls

Nonemergency calls often constitute a large portion of all 911

calls.† Callers sometimes phone about an incident–albeit not

an emergency–that requires police attention (e.g., the caller's

car was broken into the previous night, or the caller has been

involved in a noninjury vehicle accident). Others call 911 to

ask about non-police-related matters (e.g., the time of a

football game, the directions to a local event, the exact time

of day, or the time of garbage pick-ups). In addition, because

wireless carriers do not charge for 911 calls, cell phone users

sometimes call 911 and ask the dispatcher to transfer their call

to a non-police number, to avoid paying for it. At least one

police agency found that it was their own off-duty personnel

who abused 911 in this way.

Prank 911 Calls

People sometimes call 911 to falsely claim an emergency or to

deliberately hang up. Most agencies do not keep separate

totals on the number of prank calls, so it is unclear how

significant a problem this is in the United States. Some of

these calls are referred to, in policing circles, as children

"playing on the phone." These calls generally come from

private homes or pay phones–particularly pay phones easily

accessible to teens and children (such as in or near malls,

bowling alleys, or schools). In some of the more extreme

cases, students falsely claim to have planted a bomb in a

school. Doing so is a quick way to anonymously force the

immediate evacuation of the school and cessation of classes.††

† For example, in 2000, 40 percent of

the 911 calls in Jefferson County, Ky.,

were nonemergencies (Tangonan

2000). In Floyd County, Ind., nearly

half the monthly 911 calls are

nonemergencies (Tangonan 2000). In

2001, the San Diego Sheriff's

Department reported that more than

half of its 911 calls were frivolous

(Ma 2001).

†† Some students use this tactic to

avoid and postpone an academic test

for which they are unprepared. For

some of the same reasons, students

sometimes pull school fire alarms.
6 Misuse and Abuse of 911

A subcategory of prank calls is diversionary calls. A caller dials

911 to send the police to a location where no emergency has

occurred, diverting them away from the caller's criminal

activity. During the 1990s, when open-air drug markets were

at a peak in the United States, officers frequently noted such

calls and their suspicions that drug dealers were behind them.

There are only a few ways to determine if a call is

diversionary: if the caller admits it; if someone informs on

the caller; or if the dispatcher or police compare the caller's

location with that of the alleged emergency, to determine if

the caller could plausibly claim an emergency at the called in

location.

The difference between "playing on the phone" calls and

diversionary calls lies in the motives behind them. Those who

"play on the phone" (but do not immediately hang up)

typically want to see the police respond, so they are unlikely to

send the police to an area not visible to them. Diversionary

callers want the opposite result. (Examples of police

responses to both types of calls are provided later in this

guide.)

Exaggerated Emergency 911 Calls

Sometimes 911 callers intentionally exaggerate the seriousness

of an emergency to get a quicker police response (although it

is unclear how extensive this problem is). For example, a caller

may falsely report "shots fired" when calling about a dispute

or assault. Such 911 misuse is difficult to prove because the

caller might simply claim, for instance, that he or she heard

shots but did not actually see a gun fired. In other words, the

caller knows there is enough room for "caller error" that he

or she cannot be charged (or prosecuted) for the exaggerated

911 call.
The Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 7

Lonely Complainant 911 Calls

Some 911 callers, over a series of months or years, repeatedly

report an emergency, yet the police never find any evidence of

one. The calls are not pranks, and they do not neatly fit into

the exaggerated emergency category. They are typically made

by the live-alone elderly or mentally ill. Some callers suffer

from delusions, actually believing an emergency is occurring;

others are often simply seeking company, perhaps not

realizing the public expense of their calls and the accidentinjury risks involved in officers responding to high priority

dispatch calls. The fact that these callers commonly claim an

intruder is in their yard or house perhaps suggests a rational

manipulation of 911 and of police services.

Understanding Your Local Problem 9

Understanding Your Local Problem

The information provided above is only a generalized

description of 911 misuse and abuse. You must combine the

basic facts with a more specific understanding of your local

problem. Carefully analyzing your problem will help you

design a more effective response strategy.

Asking the Right Questions

The following are some critical questions you should ask in

analyzing your particular 911 misuse and abuse problem, even

if the answers are not always readily available. To accurately

assess the magnitude of the problem, you may find that you

must refine how your dispatch center records certain call

types. Your answers to these and other questions will help you

choose the most appropriate set of responses later on.

Incidents

• Which specific nature codes† identify 911 misuse and abuse?

• What percentage of 911 calls are wireless? What percentage

of wireless calls are phantom? 

• What percentage of calls are misdials? What percentage of

misdials are from private homes? From fax machines? 

• What percentage of calls are hang-ups? What percentage of

hang-ups are from private homes? From pay phones? Do

dispatcher callbacks to home and pay phones illuminate a

pattern as to the cause of the hang-ups?†† What percentage

of hang-ups are actual emergencies?

• What percentage of calls are nonemergencies, including

transfer call requests? 

• What percentage of calls are pranks, such as false bomb

threats or those that clearly involve children "playing on the

phone"? To what extent are such calls a problem? Are there

any indications that diversionary calls are a problem? If so,

are there any patterns to those calls? 

† Police communications centers use

nature codes to classify incoming 911

calls.

†† The Loves Park 911 center

determined, through analysis, that an

increase in landline hang-ups

between 1993 and 1994 was due to

their phone company's switching all

city calls, other than those to 911,

from analogue to digital. (With

analogue calls, there is a pause before

the phone rings.) Many 911 callers,

now accustomed to hearing an

immediate ring, were assuming the

pause meant their call did not go

through, and were hanging up before

a 911 operator answered. The 911

center's supervisor asked the phone

company to replace the pause with a

false ring, and 911 hang-ups

subsequently dropped to previous

levels.
10 Misuse and Abuse of 911

• What percentage of "shots fired" calls are downgraded to

assaults without a firearm once police investigate? Are there

any patterns of other exaggerated emergency calls?

• Are there any patterns of lonely complainant calls? If so, to

what extent are such calls a problem? 

Impact on 911 Resources 

• What percentage of your 911 resources are annually

consumed with calls that qualify as misuse and abuse?

• How long does it take 911 personnel to determine if a call is

phantom? A landline misdial? 

• Do phantom and nonemergency calls delay response to

other emergencies? If so, by how long?

• What is the current total cost to your 911 center and/or

police department for handling phantom wireless calls,

misdials and hang-up calls, nonemergency calls, prank calls,

exaggerated emergency calls, and lonely complainant calls? 

Offenders

• Which wireless phone brands and models account for

automatic dialing of 911? For random dialing?

• Which businesses and what types of fax machines account

for fax calls to 911?

• What percentage of misdials and hang-ups are by adults?

Teens and children?

Locations/Times

• Do certain locations account for higher percentages of 911

hang-up and prank calls (e.g., malls, bowling alleys, schools,

common routes to schools, skating rinks, convenience

stores pay phone banks, or casinos with indoor or nearby

pay phones)?

• Who owns the phones at these locations? Do the owners

adequately monitor the phones?

• Do hang-up calls cluster around certain times (e.g., times

when children are released from school, times of year)?
Understanding Your Local Problem 11

• Do nonemergency calls cluster around certain times of day?

Days of week? Times of year (e.g., the football season or

over the holidays)?

Current Responses

• How does your 911 center monitor 911 misuse and abuse?

Are responses measured for their effectiveness in reducing

it?

• What local and state laws govern 911 misuse and abuse? Are

they adequate? Do they address each aspect of the

problem? Are they used to address the problem, and if so,

have they reduced it?†

• Are the wireless phone manufacturers in your area aware of

and concerned about phantom calls? 

• Does your jurisdiction advise citizens to stay on the line if

they misdial 911?††

• If you receive lonely complainant calls, what efforts have

you made to stop them?

• What repercussions, if any, apply to callers who exaggerate

an emergency?

Measuring Your Effectiveness

Measurement allows you to determine to what degree your

efforts have succeeded, and suggests how you might modify

your responses if they are not producing the intended results.

You should take measures of your problem before you

implement responses, to determine how serious the problem

is, and after you implement them, to determine whether they

have been effective. (For more detailed guidance on

measuring effectiveness, see the companion guide to this

series, Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide for

Police Problem-Solvers.) 

† Many local and state laws that

address 911 misuse and abuse may

require revision to cover all aspects

of the problem.

†† For example, the Framingham,

Mass. Police Department's website

(http://framinghampd.org/patrol/e9

11.html) contains this message: "If

you dial 911 by accident, do not hang

up the phone, all hang-ups on 911

must have police and or fire

dispatched to the location to check

on the call. Accidents happen, stay

on and tell the operator it was an

error."
12 Misuse and Abuse of 911

The following are potentially useful measures of the

effectiveness of responses to 911 misuse and abuse:

• reduced number of phantom wireless calls;

• reduced number of phantom calls from wireless phones

previously susceptible to them;

• reduced number of misdials and hang-up calls;

• increased rate of phantom and hang-up calls that are actual

emergencies;

• reduced number of prank calls;

• reduced number of exaggerated emergency calls;

• reduced number of lonely complainant calls;

• reduced amount of time, on average, it takes for dispatchers

to answer calls;

• reduced number of personnel hours spent handling misuse

and abuse calls;

• reduced misuse and abuse call rates for various types of

premises–private homes, malls, bowling alleys, schools,

convenience stores, etc.;

• reduced incidence of misuse and abuse calls at certain times,

such as during rush hour, after school lets out, over the

holidays, and during summer months; and

• reduced overall number of misuse and abuse calls.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 13

Responses to the Problem of Misuse and

Abuse of 911

Your analysis of your local problem should give you a better

understanding of the factors contributing to it. Once you

have analyzed your local problem and established a baseline

for measuring effectiveness, you should consider possible

responses to address the problem.

There is no nationally recognized protocol to address 911

misuse and abuse. Rather, there is a patchwork of federal,

local and private responses. They are detailed below, along

with other suggested responses, to provide a foundation of

ideas for addressing your particular problem. Some forms of

the problem–such as phantom wireless calls–must be

addressed at the federal level, but this will occur only if local

agencies combine their efforts to highlight the extent of the

problem. Conversely, landline 911 problems are best

addressed at the local level. It is critical that you tailor these

responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each

response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective

strategy will involve implementing several different responses.

Police responses alone are seldom effective in sufficiently

reducing or solving the problem. Do not limit yourself to

considering what police can do; give careful consideration to

who else in your community shares responsibility for the

problem and can help police better respond to it.

Responses to Phantom Wireless 911 Calls

1. Requiring manufacturers to redesign wireless phones.

On June 9, 1999, the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC), which regulates the wireless industry, requested that

manufacturers redesign their wireless phones to address the

phantom call problem.4 However, most manufacturers do not

appear to have heeded this request. The FCC advised
14 Misuse and Abuse of 911

manufacturers that, if necessary, it would adopt specific rules

to reduce phantom calls. The FCC, upon petition, could

consider adopting a mandatory order.

2. Recalling preprogrammed wireless phones. While an

FCC order would address all future wireless manufacturing, a

recall would resolve the issue of the millions of phones that

currently cause phantom calls. Product recall could be

narrowly tailored to those models responsible, although

manufacturers should have the burden of determining

whether their phones cause the problem. Either the

manufacturers or the FCC could prompt the recall.

3. Underwriting and distributing phone button guards.

Private entrepreneurs, recognizing the problem of phantom

wireless calls, have developed button guards to reduce the

accidental pressing of the 9 or 1 key, which causes certain

phones to speed dial 911.† Button guards also protect the

redial key if 911 was the last number dialed. While this is less

desirable than product recall, wireless manufacturers may find

it a less costly alternative for addressing phones currently in

circulation.

4. Prohibiting automatic 911 dialing. This approach should

be tailored to ban wireless manufacturers from

preprogramming phones. Several states and parts of Canada

prohibit automatic 911 dialing. However, the laws have not

been used to change phone manufacturers' autodialing

programming practices.5 Enacting a federal law could be

politically difficult, but it would be the most efficient way to

address the problem; an FCC order could accomplish this, as

well. Those states that already have legislation banning

landline automatic dialing of 911 could revise their laws to

also include a specific ban on the preprogramming of wireless

units. While there are some advantages for individual users to

have 911 pre-programmed, the burden of and delay caused by

phantom calls on the 911 system outweighs the benefits.

† For example, see the Stop

Accidental Calls website at

www.StopAccidentalCalls.com.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 15

5. Funneling phantom wireless calls through an

automated 911-answering system. In January 2001, the

California Highway Patrol piloted a trial method for reducing

phantom wireless calls in the Golden Gate area.† During peak

911 calling times, if dispatchers determined no one was on

the line, they switched the call to a separate queue, and an

automated attendant asked the caller to press any number (or

to say yes) if an emergency existed. If the caller did not press

a number or say yes after the message played twice, the call

was terminated.

During the five-week trial, the average waiting time for a

dispatcher to answer a 911 call dropped from 93 seconds to

eight seconds. However, lawyers for one of the wireless

carriers objected, suggesting they might sue, and

representatives of the deaf community asserted that the

system was not friendly to the community's needs.†† The

Highway Patrol ultimately abandoned the project.

The United Kingdom has instituted a similar initiative,

dubbed "Silent Solution." Cellular calls are answered with an

automated message: "If you require any of the emergency

services, press 5 on your keypad two times now." If the caller

does not do so, the recording resumes: "Nothing has been

heard. Operator, please release the line." If the caller presses

55, the automated attendant immediately reroutes the call to

the police on the highest-priority line, and it is the next to be

answered.6 Using this system, U.K. emergency

† For additional information on this

initiative, contact Diane Chupinski at

dchupinski@chp.ca.gov.

†† Telecommunications devices for

the deaf, commonly referred to as

TTY, send out certain tones that 911

center computers recognize, allowing

for written responses. However, these

devices cannot be used with wireless

phones.

In Loves Park, if someone unintentionally speed dials 911,

the operator tells the caller that he or she could be

prosecuted for doing so, since 911 speed dialing is

prohibited there.
16 Misuse and Abuse of 911

communications officials discovered that of the more than

14,000 cellular calls to 999 per day, only about 25 are true

emergencies.

If wireless carriers remain unresponsive to the FCC's request,

and to police requests for reform, police agencies could use a

funneled phantom call system. This approach requires some

refinement to address the deaf community's needs. In

addition, it would be wise (although difficult) to prenotify the

area's wireless users about the system. There is a slight risk

that a wireless caller in a life-threatening situation–such as

someone being attacked–could not respond, and the call

would be terminated. However, this risk also exists when no

one responds to a 911 hang-up from a pay phone call, and a

number of police agencies no longer dispatch officers to such

calls.

Responses to Phantom Wireless 911 Calls With

Limited Effectiveness

6. Dispatching officers to all phantom wireless calls.

Many 911 centers try to determine if a phantom wireless call

is truly an emergency. In most cases, no one is on the line. In

other cases, the operator can hear someone talking to

someone nearby. By listening to the conversation, the

operator can determine whether the call was intentional. If it

remains unclear whether the call is an emergency, many

departments attempt callbacks using caller ID. If they cannot

determine the caller's number, and there is any indication that

an emergency exists, some 911 centers contact the caller's

phone carrier to request a callback number. However, some

phone carriers will not provide a number without a warrant.

With the commencement of Enhanced 911, Phase II, 911

centers will have to determine whether they will dispatch to
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 17

phantom call locations. If they adopt this approach, the drain

on police resources could be enormous. For instance, the

California Highway Patrol estimates it would potentially need

twice its current number of officers to respond to the 1.8

million to 3.6 million phantom calls it receives annually.

7. Requesting that wireless carriers address phantom

calls. In December 2001, the National Emergency Number

Association notified 21 wireless carriers that they should

correct the phantom call problem, and forwarded a copy of

the notification letter to the FCC. The association requested

that carriers direct their phone manufacturers to remove or

neutralize the 911 autodial feature "as quickly as possible." It

also requested that wireless carriers direct retailers to turn 911

autodial programs off, issue public service warnings and fliers

to alert phone owners about the phantom calls resulting from

the 911 autodial pre-programming, and itemize all 911 calls in

customer billing statements.7

Several years ago, officials from the California Highway Patrol

and the Reno, Nevada, Police Department separately met with

carriers whose phones made phantom calls. Several carriers

changed their handset designs. Some agreed to stop

preprogramming their phones to autodial 911; however, many

have not done so. The Highway Patrol had greater success

than the Reno police. Only one carrier agreed to meet with

Reno officials to discuss the issue, and that carrier did not

have the largest share of Reno's wireless market. Handset

manufacturers rejected the idea of a product recall, and phone

owners can still program their phones to autodial 911. The

yearly increase in wireless users, coupled with the use of older

phones that make phantom calls, has offset any gains achieved

by the few manufacturers who no longer preprogram phones.
18 Misuse and Abuse of 911

A more coordinated effort involving national police

organizations and the FCC may be needed to effectively

address the problem.

Responses to 911 Misdials and Hang-Up Calls

8. Educating the public. Public education could reduce 911

misdials and hang-up calls. For misdials of the international

access number and area codes similar to 911, police could

tailor efforts to specific populations. For instance, if elderly

citizens using landlines are responsible for a majority of

misdials, police could encourage them to put commonly called

numbers–but not 911–on speed dial.† As another example,

police might persuade pay phone companies in areas with

large immigrant populations to put stickers that list the

international access number on their phones.†† If callers are

hanging up after misdialing 911 (causing operators to

needlessly make callbacks and dispatch officers), then

stressing the importance of staying on the line to the public

would be valuable. A frequent shortcoming of public

information campaigns is the initiating agency's failure to

determine whether the effort actually reduced calls in the

targeted category (area code misdials, pay phone hang-ups,

etc.). Without measurement, it will be unclear if the initiative

actually worked.††† While public education efforts may prove

worthwhile if tailored to specific offending populations, if

problems recur, more refined efforts may be required.

Pinellas County employs a 911 public educator to address the

misuse and abuse problems arising from its more than 500,000

annual 911 calls. Misdials and hang-ups accounted for over 10

percent of all 911 calls. The educator found, from a study in one of

the county's cities, that children were responsible for only 10 percent

of the misdials and hang-up calls, so efforts were geared toward

adults. The initiative reduced the average annual number of misdials

and hang-up calls by more than 12,000 over a three-year period.††††

† Putting 911 on speed dial increases

the risk of misdials due to accidental

pressing of the button.

†† Some people mistakenly dial 911

instead of 011 (the international

access code) when phoning someone

in a foreign country.

††† Several years ago, a police agency

employed a clown to visit elementary

schools to teach children how to use

911 correctly. Thereafter, some

children called 911 to speak to the

clown.

†††† For more information about

Pinellas County 911 and the public

educator's role, contact

ed911@aol.com.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 19

9. Dispatching officers to landline hang-up calls only

when there is evidence of an emergency. Many, but not

all, 911 centers call landline hang-up numbers back (if their

system can provide the numbers). If the operator is

unsatisfied with the reason given for the hang-up, the line is

open or no one answers, the operator usually dispatches an

officer. If the line is open, 911 centers often dispatch medical

personnel and, sometimes, fire personnel as well. If the line is

busy, some 911 centers, such as that in Hopkins County,

Kentucky, contact the local telephone operator to determine if

there is a conversation on the line. If so, dispatchers do not

send out an officer, reasoning that a conversation indicates

the caller probably dialed 911 by accident.8 Some agencies,

such as the South San Francisco Police Department, check the

call history for the address to determine if there have been

previous 911 hang-ups.9 In some cases, operators can

determine that "playing on the phone" caused the call. Upon

learning this, a handful of police agencies send a 911

information packet to the home, including a warning that

there will be a fine for any subsequent false calls.10 In the vast

majority of cases, no emergency call was intended. Limiting

dispatch to only those locations where there is evidence of an

emergency minimizes the number of unfounded calls that

police must handle. If police dispatch to a home where there

is no evidence of an emergency, and entry is refused, there

may not be probable cause to enter the home without a

warrant; a refusal alone is probably insufficient to establish

probable cause for entering. Police agencies should check with

their legal advisor regarding this issue, to help refine dispatch

policies.
20 Misuse and Abuse of 911

Responses to 911 Hang-Up Calls With Limited

Effectiveness

10. Dispatching officers to all landline hang-up calls. A

handful of 911 centers treat all hang-up calls as emergencies

requiring immediate investigation. Operators do not call back,

in case a criminal answers the phone. Instead, they

immediately dispatch police in hopes of catching a criminal by

surprise.11 In the vast majority of cases, police find that no

crime has occurred.

11. Providing no response to pay phone hang-up calls.

Because so many 911 pay phone hang-up calls are unfounded,

some police agencies, including the Reno Police Department,

do not dispatch officers to the locations unless there is

evidence of trouble (such as screaming). Instead, they send

out a general alert to officers in the field. While this approach

frees officers for true emergencies, it does not fully address

the underlying causes for the hang-ups.

Responses to Nonemergency 911 Calls

12. Implementing 311 systems. Some cities, overburdened

with nonemergency 911 calls, adopt 311 systems to address

this problem. Over the past five years, cities such as

Baltimore, with assistance from the federal government, have

adopted such systems to divert and handle nonemergency

calls.12 Such systems may also reduce the number of

abandoned calls from callers failing to wait for a 911 operator

to answer, since they can shorten call pick-up times.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 21

13. Educating the public via 911 educators or

coordinators. As an alternative to adopting a 311 system,

some jurisdictions, such as Pinellas County, hire a public

educator or coordinator to teach the public about the

correct–emergency-only–use of 911. This approach does not

require additional dispatchers and equipment, as the 311

systems do, so for many jurisdictions, it is an affordable

alternative.

Responses to Prank 911 Calls

14. Targeting violators and applying graduated sanctions.

Police can send information packets to first-time 911 abusers,

as they do in Wakefield, Massachusetts,13 but if calls persist, a

system of graduated sanctions, such as fines, could be of

value. In many communities, making false or harassing 911

calls is a prosecutable offense, punishable with a fine or jail

time. For callers who repeatedly dial 911 (without a good

reason), or parents whose children repeatedly call 911 while

"playing on the phone," civil fines are more appropriate than

criminal sanctions, since most prosecutors will neither

prosecute nor seek jail time for the offenses. Generally,

prosecutors file on 911 offenses in only the most egregious

cases unless a different arrangement is agreed upon between

the police and the prosecutor.† A number of 911 centers

provide public education programs or public service

announcements to reduce 911 misuse and abuse, such as

hang-up calls from children "playing on the phone." For

instance, in Franklin County, Ohio, a public service

announcement made clear to children that with the advent of

E911 "we know where you are" when you call 911; prank calls

declined as a result. Police can also target specific phones

from which prank calls are made.

† In Marion County, Mo., first-time

violators receive a letter describing

the call, as well as information on

what constitutes a true emergency.

Second-time violators are informed

that they will face prosecution if

another false or nonemergency call

occurs; the county's prosecuting

attorney has agreed to follow

through in such cases.
22 Misuse and Abuse of 911

In 1994, San Diego police Officers Patti Clayton, Bob Smith and Miguel

Flores, and Sgts. David Contreras and Rudy Tai, noticed that a high volume of

911 hang-up calls were coming from pay phones in the 700 block of East San

Ysidro Boulevard, in the city's Southern Division. This area abuts Mexico and

has the busiest border crossing in the world–more than 70,000 vehicles and

pedestrians cross during an average day. Due to this heavy border traffic,

officers were sometimes spending over an hour responding to the calls,

invariably finding no reason for them.

Officer Clayton surveilled the 20 pay phones on the block, phones belonging

to six different owners. She also spoke with community members, taxi and bus

drivers, and business owners, and determined three main causes for the hangups:

1. Diversionary calls. Unlicensed taxi drivers, called "wildcatters," were

calling 911 from the phones and hanging up to divert police away from their

passenger pick-up points, several blocks away at the border. Drug dealers were

also making diversionary 911 calls from the phones.

2. Prank calls. Late-night revelers returning to the United States from Mexico

were calling 911 and hanging up as they passed by the phones.

3. Misdials of the international access number. Upon arriving in the

United States, some Mexican travelers, using the phones to call their families,

were misdialing 911 instead of dialing 011, the international access number.

The police team met with business owners, alerting them to the severity of the

problem. The owners, realizing that police were being diverted from crimeridden areas to respond to the false calls, agreed to remove 10 of the phones

and to relocate several others. Officer Clayton installed signs above the phones

that read, "It is a crime to dial 911 to make a false police report." With the

owners' consent, she also posted "no loitering" signs next to the phones. The

sign messages are in both English and Spanish.

To address Mexican travelers' misdialing, the team asked the phone

manufacturer to install differently shaped 9 keys in the phones, but this proved

cost-prohibitive. As an alternative, Officer Clayton painted all the 9 keys red,

and repainted them weekly to make up for wear and tear.

As a result of the team's efforts, the number of 911 calls from the phones

dropped by 50 percent. The initiative also resulted in lower response times to

other calls.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 23

15. Applying crime prevention through environmental

design (CPTED) to hot-spot pay phones. Different pay

phones–for different reasons–become hot spots for false 911

calls. After reviewing at least six months' worth of pay-phone

call data for trends, 911 centers should give officers a list of

false-call hot spots for follow-up analysis. In designing placespecific responses, officers should consider using CPTED

principles, including increasing natural surveillance and

limiting or monitoring access. CPTED measures such as

relocating phones to improve an owner's ability to monitor

them, trimming obstructing trees and shrubbery, and

removing obstacles such as dumpsters, barriers and benches

can prove effective.

By analyzing 911 hot-spot data, St. Petersburg, Florida, police

Sergeant Charles Burnette determined that pay phones near a

convenience store had accounted for 71 hang-up or "playing on the

phone" calls over a five-year period. The call times coincided with

the time students were released from school. Sgt. Burnette noted

that foliage blocked natural surveillance of the phones, and that the

phones were unlit, compounding the problem. He met with store

management, who agreed to monitor the phones,† and asked city

staff to trim the obstructing foliage and install lights by the phones.

As a result of this initiative, the false calls stopped.

Sgt. Burnette reviewed other pay phone hot-spots and during his

analysis discovered that five percent of all of St. Petersburg's 911

calls were either hang-up or "playing on the phone" calls. Pay phone

calls appeared to account for some of the problem. Because the

calls did not cluster solely around student release times, Sgt.

Burnette surmised that adults were also responsible. He

recommended CPTED surveys of pay phones and developed an

ordinance requiring that phones be maintained to CPTED

standards. The ordinance also requires that signs notifying callers of

the penalties for 911 misuse be posted near pay phones, and

provides a fine structure for phone owners who violate the

ordinance. At the time of this writing, the ordinance remains under

consideration.

† The convenience store owner

initially had the phones placed on the

property's perimeter, rather than near

the store's entrance, to discourage

loitering. However, the phones'

remoteness, along with the

obstructing foliage, prevented the

staff from monitoring them.
24 Misuse and Abuse of 911

16. Having property overseers monitor hot-spot pay

phones. In some jurisdictions, 911 centers ask property

overseers to check whether pay phone calls are true

emergencies. For example, the Loves Park 911 supervisor

found a pattern of repeat hang-up calls from pay phones in

the city's malls, bowling alleys and schools. Now, if 911

dispatchers receive a hang-up call from one of these locations,

they will not dispatch officers unless they have received

confirmation of an emergency from mall security, bowling

alley management or school administrators. If kids are

"playing on the phone," the property overseers notify the

police, who then respond to arrest the youth. Twelve percent

of all 911 hang-up calls there are now handled this way. If

particular pay phones are hot spots for hang-up or

diversionary calls, police should determine who owns the

phones (and who manages the property), and request their

oversight in preventing the problem.

Response to Exaggerated Emergency 911 Calls

17. Targeting education to the people responsible. It is

worthwhile for 911 centers to identify people who make

exaggerated emergency calls, and to inform them about the

associated costs and hazards. People who live or work in areas

with particularly severe crime problems, such as open-air drug

or prostitution markets, sometimes make such calls out of

fear and frustration, believing that a quick police response is

essential. Rather than educating these callers individually, it

may be more economical to do so in a group format (perhaps

in a block meeting). Police should come prepared with

alternative ways to address the problem(s) prompting the

original 911 calls. In addition, police should monitor any

future calls from the targeted group to determine if education

efforts have resolved the matter, or if more coercive remedies,

such as fines or other sanctions, are necessary.
Responses to the Problem of Misuse and Abuse of 911 25

Response to Lonely Complainant 911 Calls 

18. Arranging for suitable company for the callers. In

many cases involving lonely complainants, the caller is not a

danger to him- or herself or to others, and thus fails to

qualify for emergency mental health services. Less coercive

measures are more appropriate in such situations. Timeconsuming though it may be, if calls are frequent, arranging

for professionals such as mental health or social service

workers to assess callers and their circumstances will serve

police interests. In some cases, informing the caller's family

members about the problem may lead to increased monitoring

of the caller's behavior. Alternatively, representatives from

social service, charitable or faith-based organizations might

agree to regularly visit the caller. Ultimately, however, constant

911 calls about imagined emergencies or fabricated ones (as a

means of securing company) may indicate that the caller

should no longer live alone, and may find more comfort in an

assisted living facility.

Appendix 27

Appendix: Summary of Responses to

Misuse and Abuse of 911

The table below summarizes the responses to misuse and

abuse of 911, the mechanism by which they are intended to

work, the conditions under which they ought to work best,

and some factors you should consider before implementing a

particular response. It is critical that you tailor responses to

local circumstances, and that you can justify each response

based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy

will involve implementing several different responses. Law

enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing

or solving the problem.

1.

2.

3.

13

14

14

Requiring

manufacturers to

redesign wireless

phones 

Recalling

preprogrammed

wireless phones 

Underwriting and

distributing

phone button

guards

Makes phones

less susceptible to

phantom calls

Addresses phones

already on the

market 

Prevents

unintentional

speed dialing and

redialing of 911 

...police agencies,

police chief and

sheriff

organizations,

NENA, and other

interested parties

collaborate to

petition the FCC

using accurate,

recent data

...narrowly tailored

to those phone

makes and models

causing the problem

...wireless

manufacturers pay

for and distribute

the guards,

encourage wireless

owners to use them,

and provide a public

assessment of their

effectiveness in

reducing the

problem

Financial costs to

the wireless

industry may be

significant

Financial costs to

the wireless

industry may be

significant

Financial costs to

the wireless

industry may be

significant 

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Responses to Phantom Wireless 911Calls
28 Misuse and Abuse of 911

4.

5.

14

15

Prohibiting

automatic 911

dialing

Funneling

phantom wireless

calls through an

automated 911-

answering system

Federal law would

prohibit the

preprogramming

of phones to

autodial 911; state

law would

prohibit the use

of 911 autodial 

Allows

dispatchers to

more quickly

respond to calls

...federal law

targets

manufacturers,

not phone

owners; and state

law targets

owners, allowing

for graduated

sanctions against

repeat violators 

...the FCC

supports this

approach 

If there is resistance

to a federal law, an

FCC order may serve

the purpose; police

chiefs in each state

may need to

collaborate to ensure

that state laws are

enacted; police may

find it difficult to

persuade certain

groups (such as the

elderly) not to use

911 autodial

May require

refinement so as not

to adversely affect

the deaf; may also

require some

targeted public

education; if wireless

manufacturers

support this

approach over others

more costly to them,

they should bear the

cost of informing

customers about how

it works, and release

the police from

liability for using it

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations
Appendix 29

6.

7.

8.

16

17

18

Dispatching

officers to all

phantom wireless

calls

Requesting that

wireless carriers

address phantom

calls 

Educating the

public

Officers respond

to all identifiable

phantom call

locations

Police and other

organizations ask

wireless carriers

to voluntarily

address the

problem

Encourages

people to dial

carefully and to

stay on the line if

they accidentally

call 911

...the police

agency has a low

call load 

...the

organizations

requesting the

voluntary

compliance notify

the FCC that they

have done so

...911 centers

track causes of

misdials and

hang-ups

Reduces the time

officers have to

address verifiable

crime and safety

problems; once

Enhanced 911,

Phase II, is fully

implemented, the

number of

identifiable

phantom call

locations will

increase, as will the

number of

unwarranted

dispatches 

Collaborative efforts

may be difficult and

take time, and

voluntary requests

have, thus far,

proven ineffective

General

campaigns–as

opposed to

narrowly tailored

ones–are unlikely to

correct the problem

of misdials;

education efforts

should be

customized, then

assessed for

effectiveness

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Responses to Phantom 911Wireless Calls With Limited Effectiveness

Responses to 911 Misdials and Hang-up Calls
30 Misuse and Abuse of 911

9.

10.

11.

19

20

20

Dispatching

officers to

landline hang-up

calls only when

there is evidence

of an emergency

Dispatching

officers to all

landline hang-up

calls 

Providing no

response to pay

phone hang-up

calls 

Reduces the

number of

unfounded calls

that police must

handle

Gives police the

opportunity to

catch criminals by

surprise, since

operators do not

call numbers back

before dispatching

them 

Dispatchers issue

a general alert to

officers in the

field, but do not

dispatch them to

the scene unless

there is evidence

of an emergency

...911 centers

follow up on

hang-ups by

sending callers

information

packets, and

graduated

sanctions apply to

repeat violators

...a large number

of hang-up calls

are made by

people phoning

police to alert

them to a crime

in progress;

however, this is

not the case 

...property

overseers monitor

pay phones 

Informing the

public about the

extent to which

hang-up calls drain

police resources

may help police

avoid political

fallout for

responding only

when there is

evidence of an

emergency; it may

help to let citizens

know that many

police departments

now make callbacks,

a more efficient and

effective practice

than automatically

responding to hangups

Most landline hangup calls can be

resolved without

dispatching officers

Requires property

overseers'

cooperation 

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Responses to 911 Hang-Up Calls With Limited Effectiveness
Appendix 31

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

20

21

21

23

24

Implementing

311 systems

Educating the

public via 911

educators or

coordinators

Targeting

violators and

applying

graduated

sanctions

Applying crime

prevention

through

environmental

design (CPTED)

to hot-spot pay

phones

Having property

overseers monitor

hot-spot pay

phones

Reduces demands

on 911 systems;

reduces caller

frustration 

Teaches citizens

to use 911

appropriately

Persuades callers

to use 911

appropriately

Decreases the

potential for

prank 911 calls

from these

phones 

Shifts

responsibility for

monitoring

phones to those

who are better

able to do so

...adequate funds

are available for

311 technology

and staffing 

...educational

initiatives address

each aspect of

911 misuse and

abuse

...efforts are

specifically

tailored to

problem people

and phones,

rather than overly

broad

...officers are

trained in

CPTED

principles and

techniques

...police have

carefully analyzed

the problem at

hot-spot locations

and are willing to

educate property

overseers

Start-up and

maintenance costs

may be significant

Less costly than

implementing 311

systems

Civil sanctions

require a system for

collecting fines;

fines could be used

to support

additional 911

educational efforts

Some phones may

need to be relocated

(or removed), which

can have financial

implications for the

owners

Some places, such

as schools, may not

have enough staff

to monitor phones,

and may resist

phone relocation

unless convinced of

the seriousness of

the problem

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Responses to Nonemergency 911 Calls

Responses to Prank 911 Calls
32 Misuse and Abuse of 911

17.

18.

24

25

Targeting

education to the

people

responsible 

Arranging for

suitable company

for the callers

Persuades citizens

to use 911

appropriately;

police

acknowledge and

address the

underlying

concerns that

prompt the

original 911 calls

Reduces callers'

motivations to call

911

inappropriately 

...911 centers can

identify specific

blocks making the

calls

...family

members or

suitable local

services are

available 

Requires 911

centers to identify

calls that initially

receive a priority

response, but are

subsequently

downgraded in

priority once police

arrive and assess the

situation

Callers may resist

assistance; may be

time-consuming to

ensure appropriate

measures are taken 

Response

No.

Page No. Response How It

Works

Works

Best If...

Considerations

Response to Exaggerated Emergency 911 Calls 

Response to Lonely Complainant 911 Calls
Endnotes 33

Endnotes

1 Dunsworth, (2000). 2 National Emergency Number Association (2001). 3 National Emergency Number Association (2001). 4 Federal Communications Commission (1999). 5 Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service (2002). 6 London Metropolitan Police (2001). 7 Hixson (2001). 8 Larson (1998). 9 Larson (1998). 10 Hannibal Courier-Post (1997). 11 Larson (1998). 12 Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (2000). 13 Wakefield Police Department (1992).

References 35

References

Dunworth, T. (2000). "Criminal Justice and the IT

Revolution." In J. Horney (ed.), Policies, Processes and Decisions of

the Criminal Justice System: Criminal Justice 2000. Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

Federal Communications Commission (1999). FCC Docket

No. 94-102, adopted May 13 and released June 9. Available at

www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Orders/1999/fcc99096.txt

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Service (2002).

Available at

www.region.halifax.ns.ca/Fire/pages/911qanda3.html

Hannibal Courier-Post (1997). "Board Warns Against False 911

Calls," Dec. 18. Available at

www.hannibal.net/stories/121897/false911.html

Hixson, R. (2001). National Emergency Number Association

letter to 21 wireless carriers, Dec. 12. Available at

www.nena.org

Larson, R. (1998). "9-1-1 Hangups." 9-1-1 Magazine

(September/October). Available at www.9-1-1magazine.com

London Metropolitan Police (2001). "Silent Solution for 999

Mobile Telephone Calls Without Service Request." Press

release, Nov. 12.

Ma, K. (2001). "Frivolous 911 Calls Drain Sheriff's

Resources." North County Times, The Californian, Feb. 19.

Available at www.nctimes.com
36 Misuse and Abuse of 911

National Emergency Number Association (2001). "Report

Card to the Nation," Sept. 11. Available at www.nena9-1-1.org

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (2000). 311

for Nonemergencies: Helping Communities One Call at a Time.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Community Oriented Policing Services.

Tangonan, S. (2000). "911 Service Burdened by Casual Use."

The Courier-Journal, July 22. Available at 

www.courier-journal.com

Wakefield Police Department (1992). "E-911: Chapter 112 of

the Wakefield Code." Available at

www.wakefieldpd.org/bylaw-911.htm
About the Author 37

About the Author

Rana Sampson

Rana Sampson is a national problem-oriented policing

consultant and the former director of public safety for the

University of San Diego. She was previously a White House

Fellow; National Institute of Justice Fellow; senior researcher

and trainer at the Police Executive Research Forum; attorney;

and patrol officer, undercover narcotics officer and patrol

sergeant with the New York City Police Department, where

she was awarded several commendations of merit and won

the National Improvement of Justice Award. She is the

coauthor (with Michael Scott) of Tackling Crime and Other

Public-Safety Problems: Case Studies in Problem-Solving, which

documents high-quality crime control efforts from around the

United States, Canada and Europe. She is a judge for the

Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in ProblemOriented Policing, a former judge for the police Fulbright

awards, and a commissioner with California's Commission on

Peace Officer Standards and Training. Sampson holds a law

degree from Harvard and a bachelor's degree from Barnard

College, Columbia University.

Recommended Readings 39

Recommended Readings

• A Police Guide to Surveying Citizens and Their

Environments, Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1993. This

guide offers a practical introduction for police practitioners

to two types of surveys that police find useful: surveying

public opinion and surveying the physical environment. It

provides guidance on whether and how to conduct costeffective surveys.

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An

Introductory Guide for Police Problem-Solvers, by

John E. Eck (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Community Oriented Policing Services, 2001). This guide is

a companion to the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series. It

provides basic guidance to measuring and assessing

problem-oriented policing efforts.

• Conducting Community Surveys, by Deborah Weisel

(Bureau of Justice Statistics and Office of Community

Oriented Policing Services, 1999). This guide, along with

accompanying computer software, provides practical, basic

pointers for police in conducting community surveys. The

document is also available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.

• Crime Prevention Studies, edited by Ronald V. Clarke

(Criminal Justice Press, 1993, et seq.). This is a series of

volumes of applied and theoretical research on reducing

opportunities for crime. Many chapters are evaluations of

initiatives to reduce specific crime and disorder problems.
40 Misuse and Abuse of 911

• Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing:The 1999

Herman Goldstein Award Winners. This document

produced by the National Institute of Justice in

collaboration with the Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services and the Police Executive Research Forum

provides detailed reports of the best submissions to the

annual award program that recognizes exemplary problemoriented responses to various community problems. A

similar publication is available for the award winners from

subsequent years. The documents are also available at

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij.

• Not Rocket Science? Problem-Solving and Crime

Reduction, by Tim Read and Nick Tilley (Home Office

Crime Reduction Research Series, 2000). Identifies and

describes the factors that make problem-solving effective or

ineffective as it is being practiced in police forces in

England and Wales.

• Opportunity Makes the Thief: Practical Theory for

Crime Prevention, by Marcus Felson and Ronald V.

Clarke (Home Office Police Research Series, Paper No. 98,

1998). Explains how crime theories such as routine activity

theory, rational choice theory and crime pattern theory have

practical implications for the police in their efforts to

prevent crime.

• Problem Analysis in Policing, by Rachel Boba (Police

Foundation, 2003). Introduces and defines problem analysis

and provides guidance on how problem analysis can be

integrated and institutionalized into modern policing

practices.
Recommended Readings 41

• Problem-Oriented Policing, by Herman Goldstein

(McGraw-Hill, 1990, and Temple University Press, 1990).

Explains the principles and methods of problem-oriented

policing, provides examples of it in practice, and discusses

how a police agency can implement the concept.

• Problem-Oriented Policing and Crime Prevention,

by Anthony A. Braga (Criminal Justice Press, 2003).

Provides a through review of significant policing research

about problem places, high-activity offenders, and repeat

victims, with a focus on the applicability of those findings

to problem-oriented policing. Explains how police

departments can facilitate problem-oriented policing by

improving crime analysis, measuring performance, and

securing productive partnerships.

• Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the

First 20 Years, by Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of

Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services,

2000). Describes how the most critical elements of

Herman Goldstein's problem-oriented policing model have

developed in practice over its 20-year history, and proposes

future directions for problem-oriented policing. The report

is also available at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

• Problem-Solving: Problem-Oriented Policing in

Newport News, by John E. Eck and William Spelman

(Police Executive Research Forum, 1987). Explains the

rationale behind problem-oriented policing and the

problem-solving process, and provides examples of

effective problem-solving in one agency.
42 Misuse and Abuse of 911

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing Crime

and Disorder Through Problem-Solving

Partnerships by Karin Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott

Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg Townsend. (U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services, 1998) (also available at

www.cops.usdoj.gov). Provides a brief introduction to

problem-solving, basic information on the SARA model

and detailed suggestions about the problem-solving process.

• Situational Crime Prevention: Successful Case

Studies, Second Edition, edited by Ronald V. Clarke

(Harrow and Heston, 1997). Explains the principles and

methods of situational crime prevention, and presents over

20 case studies of effective crime prevention initiatives.

• Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems:

Case Studies in Problem-Solving, by Rana Sampson

and Michael S. Scott (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of

Community Oriented Policing Services, 2000) (also available

at www.cops.usdoj.gov). Presents case studies of effective

police problem-solving on 18 types of crime and disorder

problems.

• Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook

for Law Enforcement, by Timothy S. Bynum (U.S.

Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented

Policing Services, 2001). Provides an introduction for

police to analyzing problems within the context of

problem-oriented policing.

• Using Research: A Primer for Law Enforcement

Managers, Second Edition, by John E. Eck and Nancy G.

LaVigne (Police Executive Research Forum, 1994). Explains

many of the basics of research as it applies to police

management and problem-solving.
Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 43

Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police

Problem-Specific Guides series:

1. Assaults in and Around Bars. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

ISBN: 1-932582-00-2

2. Street Prostitution. Michael S. Scott. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-01-0

3. Speeding in Residential Areas. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

ISBN: 1-932582-02-9

4. Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes.

Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-03-7

5. False Burglar Alarms. Rana Sampson. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-04-5

6. Disorderly Youth in Public Places. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

ISBN: 1-932582-05-3

7. Loud Car Stereos. Michael S. Scott. 2001. ISBN: 1-932582-06-1

8. Robbery at Automated Teller Machines. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

ISBN: 1-932582-07-X

9. Graffiti. Deborah Lamm Weisel. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-08-8

10. Thefts of and From Cars in Parking Facilities. Ronald V.

Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-09-6

11. Shoplifting. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-10-X

12. Bullying in Schools. Rana Sampson. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-11-8

13. Panhandling. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-12-6

14. Rave Parties. Michael S. Scott. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-13-4

15. Burglary of Retail Establishments. Ronald V. Clarke. 2002.

ISBN: 1-932582-14-2

16. Clandestine Drug Labs. Michael S. Scott. 2002.

ISBN: 1-932582-15-0

17. Acquaintance Rape of College Students. Rana Sampson. 2002.

ISBN: 1-932582-16-9

18. Burglary of Single-Family Houses. Deborah Lamm Weisel.

2002. ISBN: 1-932582-17-7

19. Misuse and Abuse of 911. Rana Sampson. 2002.

ISBN: 1-932582-18-5
44 Misuse and Abuse of 911

20. Financial Crimes Against the Elderly.

Kelly Dedel Johnson. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-22-3

21. Check and Card Fraud. Graeme R. Newman. 2003.

ISBN: 1-932582-27-4

22. Stalking. The National Center for Victims of Crime. 2004.

ISBN: 1-932582-30-4

23. Gun Violence Among Serious Young Offenders. Anthony A.

Braga. 2004. ISBN: 1-932582-31-2

24. Prescription Fraud. Julie Wartell, Nancy G. La Vigne. 2004.

ISBN: 1-932582-33-9

25. Identity Theft. Graeme R. Newman. 2004 ISBN: 1-932582-35-5

26. Crimes Against Tourists. Ronald W. Glensor, Kenneth J. Peak.

2004 ISBN: 1-932582-36-3

Response Guides series:

• The Benefits and Consequences of Police Crackdowns.

Michael S. Scott. 2003. ISBN: 1-932582-24-X

Problem-Solving Tools series:

• Assessing Responses to Problems: An Introductory Guide for

Police Problem-Solvers. John E. Eck. 2002. ISBN: 1-932582-19-3

Upcoming Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 

Problem-Specific Guides

Disorder at Budget Motels

Domestic Violence

Mentally Ill Persons

Robbery of Taxi Drivers

Student Party Disturbances on College Campuses

School Break-Ins

Street Racing
Other Problem-Oriented Guides for Police 45

Bomb Threats in Schools

Underage Drinking

Open-Air Drug Markets

Sexual Offenses in Public Places

Drunk Driving

Cruising

Bank Robbery

Response Guides

Closing Streets and Alleys to Reduce Crime

Problem-Solving Tools

Repeat Victimization

Using Offender Interviews to Inform Police Problem-Solving

Other Related COPS Office Publications

• Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guidebook

for Law Enforcement. Timothy S. Bynum.

• Problem-Oriented Policing: Reflections on the First

20 Years. Michael S. Scott. 2001.

• Tackling Crime and Other Public-Safety Problems:

Case Studies in Problem-Solving. Rana Sampson and

Michael S. Scott. 2000.

• Community Policing, Community Justice, and

Restorative Justice: Exploring the Links for the

Delivery of a Balanced Approach to Public Safety.

Caroline G. Nicholl. 1999.

• Toolbox for Implementing Restorative Justice and

Advancing Community Policing. Caroline G. Nicholl.

2000.
46 Misuse and Abuse of 911

• Problem-Solving Tips: A Guide to Reducing

Crime and Disorder Through Problem-Solving

Partnerships. Karin Schmerler, Matt Perkins, Scott

Phillips, Tammy Rinehart and Meg Townsend. 1998.

• Bringing Victims into Community Policing. The

National Center for Victims of Crime and the Police

Foundation. 2002.

• Call Management and Community Policing. Tom

McEwen, Deborah Spence, Russell Wolff, Julie Wartell

and Barbara Webster. 2003.

• Crime Analysis in America. Timothy C. O’Shea and

Keith Nicholls. 2003.

• Problem Analysis in Policing. Rachel Boba. 2003.

• Reducing Theft at Construction Sites: Lessons

From a Problem-Oriented Project. Ronald V. Clarke

and Herman Goldstein. 2003.

• The COPS Collaboration Toolkit: How to Build,

Fix, and Sustain Productive Partnerships. Gwen O.

Briscoe, Anna T. Laszlo and Tammy A. Rinehart.

2001.

• The Law Enforcement Tech Guide: How to plan,

purchase and manage technology (successfully!).

Kelly J. Harris and William H. Romesburg. 2002.

• Theft From Cars in Center City Parking 

Facilities - A Case Study. Ronald V. Clarke and

Herman Goldstein. 2003.

For more information about the Problem-Oriented Guides for

Police series and other COPS Office publications, please call

the Department of Justice Response Center at 800.421.6770

or visit COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov.
www.cops.usdoj.gov

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the

COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770

Visit COPS Online at the address listed below.

e06021603 Updated Date: July 15, 2004

ISBN: 1-932582-18-5