911 hang-ups down so far this year in Cleveland compared to last year

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Thousands of 911 calls come into dispatchers every year.

Most of those calls are real emergencies.

But what happens when they’re misdials or hang-ups?

These kind of calls can be a waste of resources for police.

19 Investigates found in Cleveland, hundreds of 911 calls coming into police dispatch every year are misdials or hang- ups.

Just over 2-percent of calls through June 1 of this year were classified as abandoned.

That may not sound like a lot, but public records we obtained show nearly 2,500 abandoned 911 calls from January to June 1 of this year out of 110,657 emergency calls during that time.

We also found dispatchers are also seeing half the 911 hang-ups so far this year compared to last year.

There were nearly 5,000 abandoned calls in the first six months of 2021 compared to nearly 2,500 abandoned calls during the same time period this year, according to public records.

But, there were also more calls coming into 911 last year.

In total, we found nearly 340,000 911 calls came into Cleveland Police dispatchers in 2021.

So what do you do if you accidentally call 911?

Experts say do not hang up and tell the dispatcher it was a mistake.

Otherwise police may be sent to your house, to make sure you’re okay.

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