Unwanted vacation
The 15-year-old made the call Tuesday, telling the 911 operator her parents “forced” her go on a vacation to a cottage in Trent Hills, some 175 kilometres east of Toronto. The police had to send officers to the rental on the Trent River to ensure that the girl was safe and the call was really about a holiday.
She was and it was.
Once the responding officers confirmed the call was benign they spoke with the girl (whose identity cannot be revealed) about the misuse of police resources. Northcumberland OPP Const. Steve Bates told CBC News reporter Justin Li that tying up police units for such a reason “could impact the safety of others in the community who are in real need of assistance.”
He said the sullen girl won’t be charged, however. “This appeared to be a cause of a teenager being a teenager,” Const. Bates told Li. “Although she perceived this as a real issue, it was not an appropriate use of 911.”
Resort vacation
It is difficult to find accurate statistics on the misuse of calling 911 but the data that exists suggests a high-percentage of calls are either crank calls, accidental calls or, such as in this case, trivial or unwarranted calls.
Calling 911 is reserved for situations in which life or limb is in danger or a serious crime is being committed. Each year in Canada about 12 million 911 calls are made.
And finally, heaven forbid next summer this unfortunate girl’s parents should try forcing her to go to the French Riviera or say, the luxury resort on the Isla de Cayo Levantado at Bahia de Samana in the Dominican Republic….
But should they and she states a preference to stay home to text friends, watch Justin Bieber videos and visit the local mall, this reporter hereby volunteers to go in her stead. Why? Because he, I, am just that kind of a guy: giving.
And I promise not to call anyone to complain about it.
