Dispatchers at the Valley Emergency Communications Center (Utah) were answering 911 calls from a unregistered cellular phone every 10 seconds or, tallying over 4,000 in one week last month. The heavy call load tied up their 911 lines and diverted them from promptly handling other emergency calls. They enlisted the police to track down the offender, hoping to stop the calls and send the person to jail. But then, the situation quickly turned. Police traced the calls to a cell phone being used by a man with a mental disability, who was using the phone to play music on the deactivated handset. Somehow, as he listened, the man repeatedly dialed 911. Hearing that story, the dispatchers quickly raised money to buy the man an iPod and a $100 iTunes gift card so he could keep listening to his music, but without the chance to misdial 911. Read more here and here.
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