Sheriff: Don’t Hang Up If You Misdial 911

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office says it’s been receiving a lot of 911 misdials and hang- ups recently.

The sheriff’s office said the issue is happening at 911 call centers across the country.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office shared a Facebook post from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office about the issue.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office says many of the misdials are from Android phones which recently were updated to include crash detection in their settings.

“If you own an Android phone, please be careful where you place your phone for example, in a cup holder on a lawn mower, lawn chair, on a boat or in a pants pocket. If you hear the emergency calls being made, DO NOT hang up, please stay on the phone, and explain to the dispatcher your phone accidentally called 911.”

“If you simply hang up without speaking to a dispatcher, the dispatcher must follow the following procedure in an attempt to verify an emergency is not taking place.”

-The dispatcher must attempt to call the number back.

-If they do not receive an answer, they typically call the number a second time to speak with someone.

-If there still is no response, the dispatcher then texts the phone explaining the situation and the need for the owner of the phone to reply to the dispatcher.

-If no response is received after the text is sent, a deputy is sent to the location the phone plotted on the map.

“We understand that 911 calls are made in error, please stay on the line or answer when the dispatcher calls you back to keep our deputies available for calls for service.”