SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City police are concerned after seeing a 131% increase in hang-up 911 in the past week compared to 2022.
"About 3,000 a little over that not much was last year that same time frame," said SLC911 Interim Director, Lisa Kehoe. "This year about 3900 calls."
Salt Lake City Police Officer Dalton Beebe says the cause of the uptick is unknown, but many accidental 911 calls occur when a phone's emergency services is activated. You can change how and when it activates in your settings.
As harmless as the hangup calls may seem, they impact resources at the Salt Lake Police Department and staffing at SLC911.
"Sometimes we have to go to the dispatch location," said Officer Beebe. "Sometimes that takes up time and resources that could otherwise be allocated to other areas."
"How many people in the seat answering is based on what we expect, with this kind of a spike it is a strain on staffing of course because we need more people in the seats to help out," Kehoe said.
If you do misdial, Kehoe says don't just hang up, stay on the line, and answer any questions dispatchers may have.
"If we don't have someone on the phone to explain there is not an emergency and we are able to confirm that then we do take the next steps involved which is to send officers out," Kehoe said.
If you want to contact 911, but don't know if it's an emergency call you can call the non-emergency line at 801-799-3000
