Police in Leeds, Ontario, Canada are reminding the public yet again that 911 must only be reserved for emergencies after a woman called the help line over the weekend about her losing money from gambling at a casino.
Leeds provincial police and the Thousand Islands Township say that they received a call at about 5 a.m. on April 7, Saturday, from a woman who had been gambling at the Shoreline Casino Thousand Islands.
The unnamed 21-year-old woman from Quebec told officers that she had lost all her money from after gambling and that she needed help getting home.
Prior to the police arriving at the casino, the woman then called back to say somebody gave her $20 and so she no longer needed their assistance.
Const. Sandra Barr said police officers had confirmed with casino security that the woman did not need police assistance and was safe.
Barr said it's the very first time that they got a call of this kind from a casino, even though police frequently receive calls about non-emergency situations.
Top 10 ridiculous reasons people called 911 in 2016
E-Comm, the biggest 911 call center in BC, Canada, handles over 1.3 million calls each year, and while most of them are indeed about emergencies and life-threatening situations, there are times they get a call about nonsense circumstances, putting lives at risk.
Here are the top 10 calls they got in 2016:
1. Requesting help opening a broken gym locker
2. Enquiring about job opportunities for a family member interested in police work
3. Because an electric shaver would not turn off
4. Requesting a ladder to get a soccer ball off the roof
5. How best to get a drone down from a tree
6. Tired of waiting in traffic
7. "There's a big spider in the bathroom"
8. Complaining they couldn't get into a nightclub
9. Because their teenager refused to do chores
10. "Can you tell me what time it is?"
There are consequences for misusing 911 in the United States
In December of last year, Nelson Agosto, a Florida man got in trouble after misusing 911 twice, to complain about the size of the meal served to him at Crabby's Seafood Shack in Stuart.
As a result of his actions, the 51-year-old man was charged with misusing the emergency 911 hotline and was arrested.
Police stated that Mr. Agosto complained the clams he was eating were so small that he didn't want to pay for them. In a 911 call released by the police department, Agosto told the dispatcher, "I ordered something, and it was extremely so small."
The dispatcher instructed Agosto to call a non-emergency line, but he told police he forgot the number for that. He was luckily not sent to jail and has appeared in court this January.
Source:
http://www.leeds1000islands.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=3cf7ceba-9051-45e5-8f27-b9b718217101&lang=en
https://www.ecomm911.ca/
https://twitter.com/cityofstuart/status/943994077758001152/video/1