Is it a felony to dial 911 and leave the phone hanging?

[7sky]

Yes I was wondering I have a friend that has been doing 911 calls and then leaving the phone off the hook.
And is doing this a Felony and how bad can she get in trouble for doing this???

Thanks Diana:(

[txinvestigator1]

Texas Penal Code:


Text
§42.061. Silent or abusive calls to 9-1-1 service.

(a) In this section "9-1-1 service" and "public safety answering point" or
"PSAP" have the meanings assigned by Section 772.001, Health and Safety Code.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person makes a telephone call to 9-1-1
when there is not an emergency and knowingly or intentionally:

(1) remains silent; or

(2) makes abusive or harassing statements to a PSAP employee.

(c) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly permits a telephone
under the person's control to be used by another person in a manner described in
Subsection (b).

(d) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.

(Added by L.1989, chap. 582(1); chgd. by L.1991, chap. 14(284)(2); L.1993, chap.
900(1.01), eff. 9/1/94.)


Other States may vary.

[Stump]

Where are you? (state)
Do the police come to her house?
Why does she do this?

You can be arrested in NY for false calls, but I am not going to quote penal code like TX.

[bhanson]

Im Missouri is it also a Misdemeanor.

One thing to think about - can she live with the possibility that because you have tied up one of the limited 9-1-1 trunk lines, someone might die because they can't get through?

It is much more than a prank.

[Stump]

I wanted to add something. Where I am, we send officers to any call into 911. We have had many "open lines" that turn out to be major incidents, and some that were kids playing with the phones. There are procedures operators have to follow when they receive that call, but I am not going into that. Just like hanson said, you are tying upa phone line, an operator, a dispatcher, and 2 officers every time you do that.

Give me this girl's phone number. I'd like to talk to her. :mad:

[Vigilante]

"Give me this girl's phone number. I'd like to talk to her."

Hold on Stumpy! Psycology teaches us that when we approach too strongly, we drive them away and they clam up.

So - with that in mind, let's ignore the detail of this particular individual and assume there are others like her so we may try to understand WHY it is that this happens.

7sky - is your friend on drugs? Is she lonely? Was she abused? Is she ugly, fat, and nobody likes her?

I'm wondering what would make a person do such a thing.

Everybody knows damn well that when you do that, you could be shaving minutes from the potential of saving a young childs life. I don't think any of us even need to explain this to 7sky or his "friend".

I'm just wondering what makes her tick? What's her malfunction? Can we offer her an alternative to get off in that sick mental way and get attention with less damage to society?

[tcsd1236]

Stump:

I have heard that they want to address nuisance 911 calls specifically in NY law, but in the meantime, I expect that the following Penal Law section could be applied to that particular problem:

S 240.30 Aggravated harassment in the second degree.
A person is guilty of aggravated harassment in the second degree when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm another person, he or she:
1. Either (a) communicates with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, or by telegraph, mail or any other form of written communication, in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm; or
(b) causes a communication to be initiated by mechanical or electronic means or otherwise with a person, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, or by telegraph, mail or any other form of written communication,in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm; or
2. Makes a telephone call, whether or not a conversation ensues, with no purpose of legitimate communication

This obviously would require sometjhing from the dispatcher indicating that the subjects actions annoyed them; I only recall one or two people in my county being charged with this.
This is a Class A Misdemeanor in NY State.

[OfficerBigelow]

I become very agitated when I respond to a "911 hangup" and it's kids playing around while their parents are at work.

It usually goes something like this:

*Knock Knock*
Door opens and a kid answers "hello sir"
I say "Is there a problem, is everyone ok"
"what do you mean sir" says the kid
"We received a 911 call from this address" I will reply
"No sir, we didn't call 911" says the kid

Then blah blah blah lies and some more lies and then I scare the truth out of them.

Then I call parents and brief the kids on why they shouldn't do this.

Meanwhile someone is being murdered, rapped, or beaten and I can't respond because these kids "pranked" us!

You should let your friend know she would be much more mature if she spent that time reading a book rather then pranking 911.
----------------------------------------------------
STORY TIME!

My cell phone has the emergency 9 button and I've hit that before and didn't know it. I received a call back. I was like "oh crap, I think I hit the 9 on accident". Then they dispatcher recognized my voice and we had a laugh. Then I hung up and we never spoke of this again.

THE END

[Stump]

Originally posted by Vigilante
"Give me this girl's phone number. I'd like to talk to her."
Hold on Stumpy! Psycology teaches us that when we approach too strongly, we drive them away and they clam up.

I have no idea what you are talking about. What makes you think you know what I am going to say? Stop ASSuming.
"is your friend on drugs? Is she lonely? Was she abused? Is she ugly, fat, and nobody likes her?"
It is most likely ignorance. A person's attractiveness has nothing to do with it.

[Stump]

TC, I said we arrest people for falsely reporting an incident, not necessarily for hang ups. What do you guys do for bomb threats if you catch the guy? We arrest 'em.

In fact, remember those 2 girls from Lodi that stayed out past their curfew ad made up a story that they were abducted so they wouldn't get into trouble? I am sure you must have - it was your town they ended up in. They are going to be charged... wasted all that manpower, a HELICOPTER search, etc... pisses me off.


And Jake, *put the cell phone lock on your phone so it doesn't dial out by accident!* I can't tell you how many personal, intimate conversations we have overhead because people's phones dial in by accident. One of my friends heard people having sex, then talking about the fact that they were having an extra-marital affair afterwards.

[txinvestigator1]

One of my friends heard people having sex, then talking about the fact that they were having an extra-marital affair afterwards.

I know you listened in. Heehee:D

[tcsd1236]

Originally posted by Stump
In fact, remember those 2 girls from Lodi that stayed out past their curfew ad made up a story that they were abducted so they wouldn't get into trouble? I am sure you must have - it was your town they ended up in. They are going to be charged... wasted all that manpower, a HELICOPTER search, etc... pisses me off.


.

Do I ever. I was working that case most of yesterday , along with a lot of officers from 3 surrounding counties. I was at the hospital with the Investigators interviewing them after they came in. A foolish thing, and more to it than what was put out in the news, but nothing that can be discussed in an open forum.