Phantom 911 calls blamed on rain
Posted at: 11/06/2009 7:46 PM
By: Valerie Castro, Eyewitness News 4; Charlie Pabst, KOB.com
County officials say it's been known to happen from time to time— bad weather will hit in the South Valley and strange 911 calls come into dispatchers.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's Lieutenant Jason Katz said Friday, "Basically, what happens is the call goes into dispatch, dispatch sends it to our deputies and they respond to a home, when they respond to the home, they find out through the homeowners that they didn't call 911, everything is ok— and that it's due to the weather."
It's a call that doesn't happen very often, but when it does, Bernalillo County deputies respond to it just like any other 911 emergency, even though dispatchers might not hear anyone on the phone.
"Part of the problem is they don't know what the call is because there's obviously no voices and there's nothing being said on the line," Katz said.
He said even though it may sound like nothing, deputies still have to respond— prepared for anything.
"When they go out there, in the end, is it a waste of time? I would say no, because we're ensuring the public's safety," he said.
County officials say they aren't sure exactly why it happens, but say it could be because some phone lines in the South Valley aren't strung on poles, but buried underground.
Sometimes, deputies respond to the same homes, just to find out it's the same problem.
"Typically when we respond, sometimes homeowners will say this isn't the first time it's happened when it's rained and they'll let the deputies know that," Katz said.
The fix? Deputies tell each homeowner to call their phone provider.
Qwest said they weren't aware of the problem until we told them about it. They say they will be looking into it.
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