Patch Rewind: 911 Hangups On Rise; Here's What To Do If You Misdial

Gwinnett Police say they have seen an alarming increase in the number of 911 hangup calls in recent months.

Such calls are all too familiar at the Gwinnett 911 Center, where “abandoned” emergency calls have nearly doubled since January.

According to police, nearly 15 percent of all 911 calls in January were abandoned calls. In April, that number grew to 17 percent. In June, it spiked to 27 percent.

Examples of abandoned 911 calls

Accidentally dialing 911

Child calls 911

Multiple people call 911 for one emergency

Calls 911 and then changes mind

Child playing with disconnected phone (will still call 911)

“When a person hangs up on a 911 call, the call-taker takes the time to call the person back to insure that police or fire response is not needed,” Gwinnet Police public information officer Cpl. Michele Pihera said. “While the call-taker is trying to make contact with a hang-up caller, another person with a true emergency could be calling in.”

That’s a problem, police say, but there’s a simple solution.

Any time you call 911, even by mistake, stay on the line. If you don’t need a public safety response, tell the call-taker and be done with it.

“In a true emergency, seconds are valuable,” Pihera said. “It takes less time to make contact with a call-taker and cancel your call than to hang-up and force the call-taker to call you back to determine the nature of your call.”

Also, if you are a witness to a crime or traffic accident, please call 911. Your statements could be valuable to the investigation. Never assume that someone else is calling 911 in an emergency.