“SOUTH BRUNSWICK: 911 pranks tied to juveniles”

SOUTH BRUNSWICK: 911 pranks tied to juveniles

Posted: 15 Oct 2010 10:26 PM PDT

Two young children were responsible for a series of phone calls to 911 that tied up township resources last week.

On Oct. 7 at around 9 a.m., South Brunswick police received seven different 911 calls reporting a house fire. Officers responded to a location on Greenview Drive and found no fire at the site.

Investigators traced the calls back to two children under 10 years old, who were making the calls from a cellular phone. The two children had placed more than a dozen phone calls to South Brunswick police, Plainsboro police and the New Jersey State Police.

â€�Apparently they had a phone that had been turned off but was still able to access 911,â€� said police spokesman Sgt. James Ryan.

The parents of the children were advised of the situation and immediately took the phone away.

â€�Based on the age of the children this is more of a parental issue so we followed up with the parents,â€� Sgt. Ryan said. â€œItâ€™s clear based on the parentsâ€™ response that this mistake will be corrected.â€�

Though a seemingly harmless, prank calls to 911 tie up resources that could be put to better use, especially in the case of an emergency, Sgt. Ryan said.

â€�Everyday police dispatchers handle numerous 911 calls for many purposes,â€� he said. â€œThose prank calls required a response from our officers, which pulls services away from calls that actually need assistance.â€�

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