I'm one of the heads of my neighborhood watch and we are having some issues with some druggie/alcoholic neighbors (we will call them bad people). They have targeted one of the other heads that lives right across the street from them. The bad people have a 911 only cell we assume its a prepaid cell too but dont know for sure. They are calling 911 and giving my friends address and sending the sheriffs out there on a regular basis. Sheriff comes checks things out and sees its a prank and goes on his way. But they do this in the middle of the night or at dinner or at noon just any time. Well yesterday they called and said the husband KILLED the wife and her body was inside the house. So the sheriff came and the husband was like hey take a look she's not here (she was at a job interview with cell off) they found nothing and left. Then last night prank call again but to another address down the road a bit (part of neighborhood watch too) with 4 fire trucks showing up only to find nothing. This is getting dangerous. That took up a lot of the fire resources up here what if there was a real fire somewhere? 911 says they cant (or wont) track it or do anything about it. I dont believe that. I think my friends can file harassment charges on them but she cant prove its them. Do you guys know anything about whether 911 cell phones can be traced? Is 911 just being lazy and not wanting to help I mean they have got to be tired of these prank calls too.

Angie

Pretty sure any phone can be traced. Someone has to provide the carrier service, even if its free. Its also a felony to make fake 911 calls. They can go to jail.

I guess I'd tell it to the people who actually show up. The cops, the Firemen, they care enough to try and do something about it.

I don't think the phone even has to be activated to call 911. It could be a thrown away phone that they are using and the older ones didn't have gps for tracing.

quote Originally posted by 2.5: I guess I'd tell it to the people who actually show up. The cops, the Firemen, they care enough to try and do something about it.

Thats just it they know its a prank once they get there and they dont care. They have this "oh well" attitude and are on their way.

Any cell phone can make a 911 call. They don't have to have a service provider. Only the authorities can legally do anything about identifying who's to blame for the calls. They can triangulate the location if they really decide that it's a problem. If they move around town and make the calls from different locations, it could be a problem but if they repeatedly call from their home, it could be narrowed down. Obtaining the cell phone and looking at the call record would be the damning evidence.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Pretty sure any phone can be traced. Someone has to provide the carrier service, even if its free. Its also a felony to make fake 911 calls. They can go to jail.

Ditto we have those talktrac phones and they still have GPS capabilities and if the cops keep getting called for nothing they eventually will trace the call and will get pissed off at the caller.

You now as far as I know can do nothing other than deal with it until the cops get pissed enough to do something. Other than file harassment charges against who keeps making the calls. Our phones still come through as the number we have so they can trace them, the number comes up on our home land line so I am sure the cops get the number they just won’t tell you.

Sorry you are having this trouble but it will eventually get remedied as the cops will get tired of them calling wolf so to speak.

Good luck’

Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.

Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by FieroAngel: Thats just it they know its a prank once they get there and they dont care. They have this "oh well" attitude and are on their way.

Weird, maybe they are paid by the trip?

911 calls are recorded and they are available under the freedom of information act. Get a copy of the calls, listen to the voice and if you know who it is let the police know.

Great idea. !!!!!!!

Knowing where the phone call was made from doesn't find the person who made the call. Police have higher priorities than tracking prank callers... (Sorry)

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Pretty sure any phone can be traced. Someone has to provide the carrier service, even if its free. Its also a felony to make fake 911 calls. They can go to jail.

Tracing only works if they stay put. Call from the corner and then walk away. Plus its via triangulation, which isn't super accurate. ( assuming an untraceable throwaway prepay phone here, not some fancy one with a contract.. )

its uncool what they are doing.

Also from what i understand ANY cellphone ( ok, any digital cellphone.. analog wont work now ) will let you call 911 regardless of any service.

[This message has been edited by User00013170 (edited 02-10-2012).]

Analog without gps used to work without activation. I used one and tested it, but it was a few years ago. Have they completely discontinued analog support?

quote Originally posted by dratts: Analog without gps used to work without activation. I used one and tested it, but it was a few years ago. Have they completely discontinued analog support?

I could be wrong, but that is what i was told at one point a few years ago when i asked AT&T about giving my mother an old analog for emergency use only.

Told them what i was doing and that i had 2 phones, would the analog still work. "no it wont".. so they were not trying to sell me a new plan/phone or something. They knew up front there was no $ to be made. Just a matter of which phone did i give her.

[This message has been edited by User00013170 (edited 02-10-2012).]

quote Originally posted by ryan.hess: Knowing where the phone call was made from doesn't find the person who made the call. Police have higher priorities than tracking prank callers... (Sorry)

Most departments take prank 911 calls more seriously since it wastes their time and takes them away from real emergencies.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: Most departments take prank 911 calls more seriously since it wastes their time and takes them away from real emergencies.

It also wastes tax payers dollars. But i wonder if i this case they know it would be super hard to catch these idiots.

If you KNOW...100% sure...who it is......handle it privatley and with maximum "persuasion". <sticks hands in pockets pockets and whistles>

quote Originally posted by User00013170: I could be wrong, but that is what i was told at one point a few years ago when i asked AT&T about giving my mother an old analog for emergency use only. Told them what i was doing and that i had 2 phones, would the analog still work. "no it wont".. so they were not trying to sell me a new plan/phone or something. They knew up front there was no $ to be made. Just a matter of which phone did i give her.

The last time I tried to activate a phone without gps I was told that they were prevents by law from activating it. I don't remember whether it was analog or digital. I have some old phones around. If I can find one and still put a charge on it, I'll check it out.

Call the administrative line at the dispatch center and explain the situation.

Laws vary from state to state whether 9-1-1 call information is public record or not.

Unregistered cell phones only supply the tower location and several digits of the electronic serial number of the phone. Usually the dispatch center has to request the rest of the digital serial number of the phone from the cellular carrier that delivered the call. This is complicated because all cell carriers have to deliver 9-1-1 calls they receive and the cell phone making the call may never have been registered (under contract) with that carrier. IE: AT&T delivered the call but the phone was T-mobile.

Ask for the PSAP director.

The dispatch center will suggest a course of action.

[This message has been edited by mike-ohio (edited 02-10-2012).]

quote Originally posted by dratts: The last time I tried to activate a phone without gps I was told that they were prevents by law from activating it. I don't remember whether it was analog or digital. I have some old phones around. If I can find one and still put a charge on it, I'll check it out.

She said it was due to analog support, not GPS. But i wasn't trying to get it activated, it was just for 911 service.

quote Originally posted by mike-ohio: Call the administrative line at the dispatch center and explain the situation. Laws vary from state to state whether 9-1-1 call information is public record or not. Unregistered cell phones only supply the tower location and several digits of the electronic serial number of the phone. Usually the dispatch center has to request the rest of the digital serial number of the phone from the cellular carrier that delivered the call. This is complicated because all cell carriers have to deliver 9-1-1 calls they receive and the cell phone making the call may never have been registered (under contract) with that carrier. IE: AT&T delivered the call but the phone was T-mobile. Ask for the PSAP director. The dispatch center will suggest a course of action.

Yep, almost all towns/counties etc have a non emergency dispatcher you can call. Start there. No luck? Call the local jusidiction's district attorney.

Does *(star) 67 still block you from caller ID. If it does, call 911 on the people you know doing it so they get bothered back. ie/ report gunshots, fire, domestic, etc at their address. Sooner or later some authority will get involved whether they want to or not. If the fire dept starts ignoring calls to that address and it really does have a fire, hopefully it will burn down and your problem goes away.

Well the person we are 99% sure was making the calls was hauled away in handcuffs by the sheriff last night. Not sure if it was cause of the 911 calls or some other reason but it was still a nice sight cause she (and her friends) is a major problem in this neighborhood.

I understand that. Im saying YOU call 911 and give their address. If you can block it with *67 they dont know its you. You could also just find a pay phone and call 911, giving their address. Wear gloves....hehe Maybe you could get lucky and the fire dept wont come and it really catches fire with them in it... They wont 'still' be there then.

*67 does not block 911 info. Go to a payphone (if any still exist in your area) or grab a phone at the flea market or thrift store.

Deactivated Cells, no matter how old, can still dial 911 provided they still hold a battery charge. My step mother is a crisis prevention and domestic abuse conselor, and they give old phones to women and kids who are poor and abused so they can call the police in an emergency situation. Thats why the local zoo has old cell phone collections for this purpose.. and Verizon sent me a bag postage paid to send my old phone to that cause once I got my new cellphone.

http://aboutus.verizonwirel...ervice/hopeLine.html

[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 02-12-2012).]