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I’m sure that many of us have an old drawer of old cell phones and occasionally a child might find one or be given one as a toy. You might want to choose something else to allow the kids to play with.

Parents might want to think twice before giving their old cell phones to their children to play with because although an old cell phone may not have a service plan, the phone can still dial 911.
The wireless 911 call center at the Framingham State Police Barracks has been receiving prank calls from a young child using such a phone that can’t be traced, police said.
“We handle approximately three (thousand) to five thousand wireless 911 calls per day,” said Tom Ashe with the statewide emergency telecommunication.
In one of the prank calls, the child says, “Can I have an extra large cheese pizza please?”
“So far today, this dispatcher received 16 911 calls from this one unutilized phone,” Ashe said.
Police say parents are giving their kids old cell phones, not knowing that they still can connect to 911 even though they’ve been de-activated.
The phone can still connect to 911 because the FCC requires any cell phone, even ones no longer on a service plan, to be able to reach 911. All it requires is a working battery.
Problems arise with the issue when calls come in and the dispatchers’ hands are tied because the phones no longer show a call-back number.

However, if the phone is yours, you might want to find someone other than a 911 operator to vent your frustrations to.

WBZ has learned that legislation will be filed Monday that would make it a crime to make bogus calls to 911 operators.
Non-emergency calls to the emergency line are a huge problem.
More than 300,000 calls a year taken at the wireless 911 center in Framingham are not for real emergencies.
Many are downright abusive.
“Well the issue is the system gets congested with all these inappropriate calls from people calling for directions or complaining about road construction,” said Tom Ashe, the manager of wireless 911.
State Police estimate that 1,000 wireless 911 calls each day are for non-emergencies. A thousand tying up dispatcher after dispatcher for precious minutes.

…

State Senator Jim Timilty, (D) of Attleboro, has heard enough.
As chairman of the Public Safety Committee, he will file legislation Monday to make it a crime for people to tie up emergency 911 lines.
“Somebody who needs the help won’t get the help because someone is taking out their frustrations on a 911 dispatcher,” he said.
“I don’t want to see that happen. That’s why we made it a year jail or a $1,000 fine.”
Only the most abusive callers would be subject to arrest.
But right now that could easily be more 100 callers each week.
States like Tennessee and Georgia have already passed laws making bogus 911 calls a crime. Tennessee has collected more than $400,000 in fines.

The old cell phone given to your child as a toy might come back and bite your wallet.

Links: http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_249233601.html

http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_281095318.html

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