First responders on Martha’s Vineyard are dealing with a steep climb in accidental 911 calls commonly known as “butt dials,” which divert attention from true emergencies, according to Island law enforcement officials hoping that Islanders and visitors take more care.
According to Edgartown Police Chief Bruce McNamee, many calls have come from cell phones inside pockets, purses, bicycle baskets, and more, as a result of auto-dial 911 settings and accidental keystrokes.
McNamee said police categorize these types of calls as “open lines” or “abandoned or hung up.” But emergency personnel must still respond to these calls, just in case the caller is involved in an actual emergency.
In May 2018, McNamee said, Edgartown Police responded to 16 of these types of calls in the month. In May 2019, he said, the number of accidental calls jumped to 84.
In June 2018, McNamee said, there were 26 accidental calls, and in June 2019, 125 were recorded.
Dukes County Sheriff Robert Ogden said technology has grown “leaps and bounds,” and surpassed the communications systems that handle it. In March, the Dukes County sheriff’s office began handling the open-line calls. He said call volume has increased more than 100 percent since that point.
“We have actually told the chief [McNamee] that under state laws, the only agency that is obligated to respond [to open-line calls] is the E911 regional communications center,” Ogden said. He explained that town police departments are not legally required to dispatch help to abandoned or hung-up calls, but the decision is at their discretion.
“All you have to do is press a couple buttons to call 911,” McNamee said. “The calls themselves are very time-consuming — the sheer number of them make it difficult to manage.”
McNamee said first responders must treat every 911 call with the utmost importance, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to differentiate an accidental call from a serious situation.
“I don’t want 911 calls to lose the urgency they desperately require,” McNamee said. He suggested educating people about the new functions on the most recent cell phone technology, in order to avoid these false alarms.
A post on the Oak Bluffs Police Department’s Facebook page notifies the public of the issue, and provides instructions on how to lock your phone keypad to avoid accidental keystrokes, and how to disable the auto-dial feature on cell phones.
Ogden explained that when someone accidentally dials emergency services, they often hang up in a hurry after realizing. “Please do not hang up, wait for the dispatcher to speak to you and explain to them what happened,” Ogden said.
When a 911 call is abandoned or hung up, dispatchers must radio those calls out to first responders in case the caller is in distress.
Ogden commended his team of telecommunicators for dealing with a daunting task with confidence and professionalism.
