Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Bored Panda

Entertainment

Jonas Žvilius

911 Operators Share The 50 Dumbest Calls They Ever Received

911 (Organization) BF (Person) Guy Police

“911, what’s your emergency?” That question can be answered in dozens of harrowing ways. Perhaps there’s someone breaking into your home, maybe you were just in a terrible car accident, or you’re watching a loved one have what you can only assume is a heart attack. Nobody ever wants to have to dial 911.

Well, most people don’t want to. But apparently, there are some individuals out there who will call this number for issues that are anything but an emergency. 911 operators have been discussing the most ridiculous reasons they’ve ever been called on Reddit, so we’ve gathered a list of their stories below. From cooking questions to confusion about quick dial buttons, these tales are great reminders to never waste law enforcement’s time. Enjoy scrolling through, and be sure to upvote the stories about callers that you would have simply hung up on!

#1

Had an elderly lady in SC low country call and she was afraid someone had put a “root” on her, kinda like voodoo. Some white powder like flour had appeared on her porch and she didn’t know what to do. I asked her if she had a straw broom. She did. I told her to get the broom and a dustpan, walk backward out the door and to the mysterious powder, sweep it I to the dust pan and back up to the left side of her porch, throw the powder out over her left shoulder, dust the broom off well on the porch rail and that was that. She did it and was happy.

#2

This will be piled in comments, but it's still stuck with me for my entire life. When I was younger, my mother was a paramedic supervisor. The dispatch desk was pretty much handled by the dispatcher - and whomever was closest to the phone. Pretty laid back environment. The 911 operator would transfer and relay the calls to the person answering the phone at the ambulance station. I would randomly answer often while I was there hanging out, just to feel important. I answered one day, and this guy said he got the wrong number. Now, the same phone was used to business lines and emergency transfers, so you had to pay attention to what light turned on when the phone rang. When I answered this man's call, he called the business line. He told me it was an accident. I misunderstood and thought said there HAD BEEN an accident. I immediately handed the phone to my mom so she could adult. My mom spoke to him for what seemed like hours. Turns out, the man was calling his daughter whom he hadn't spoken to in years. He was calling to tell her goodbye because he was going to end his life. I don't know if my mom was amazing at her job, or if it was fate. But that man, as far as I know, is still alive to this day and credits that to dialing the wrong number.
Not exactly a 911 call, but close.

#3

"I can't get this jar of peanut butter open and if I don't get the peanut butter in the feeder, the squirrels will be mad *maniacal laughter*"-frequent flier (mentally ill)

"There's a HUGE FIRE! Oh my god, get the fire department here now." It was the full moon shining through trees.

"Um, I let my parakeet out to get some air and now he's stuck in a tree..."-award winning event at the annual firefighter dinner for most entertaining call for service. Included gems such as "Unit 1400 on scene, no feathers showing from the outside, checking the area..." and "dispatch be advised, subject is a flight risk".

#4

I have had hundreds of parking complaints come in via 911.

My personal favorite, however. I had someone call 911 to complain about a city ordinance that their neighbor hadn't mowed their lawn. I had them call the non emergency number to report it. Which went to the person sitting next to me.

I made them look up the number and call to be spiteful. They didn't know the non emergency number and 911 went to two people in the same room.

The house in question with the unmowed lawn, belonged to an on duty police officer for that town. So we sent him to take the ordinance violation complaint from his neighbor on himself.

#5

20 year 911 Dispatcher and Supervisor here. Had a guy call and ask if the line was recorded, I assured him all our lines were recorded. He started to recite his last will and testement and then shot himself. All 911 recordings are legal documents so he just saved money on a lawyer giving his will over the phone.

#6

6:30 Christmas morning. 9-1-1 goes off. "9-1-1. what's your emergency?"

Breathless, panicky voice "How do I get the cranberry sauce out of the can without it coming out in chunks?"

"Open the other end and slide it out on a plate."

"OH! THANK YOU! You are brilliant!"

I wasn't considered so brilliant once I had to dispatch an officer over there to educate her on proper 9-1-1 usage. Merry Christmas, here's your citation.

#7

Many, many years ago, (1962 or so)

I managed to rotary dial the Ohio State Highway Patrol and tell them to come arrest my Mom because she wouldn't let me go outside and play in the rain.

I was 4.

#8

Back when I was in highschool, a group of boys were making prankcalls to emergency services.
The lunch lady who had tolerated a bunch of stuff from them had enough and called the non emergency line to report them. Police arrived, fined them and the boys got detention for a month.

I later learned that their parents were not amused and grounded them for the same month, and took all electronics so they couldn't communicate with each other outside of school. And the boys had to pay the fines with their own money, their parents wouldn't pay a single dime.

At school every other student was disgusted by their behavior and ignored them completely. The rest of the year the boys were incredibly well behaved.

#9

Guy called for a suspicious pkg on his porch. Cop comes out, picks it up, looks at it, then asks if he ordered anything from Amazon. Guy says “yes”. Cop hands him the pkg and says have a good day. Guy just says “sorry” and goes in the house.

#10

Not a dispatcher but I worked security at a college and fielded the calls as I did my rounds.

The best story I have is a guy who called about a bobcat in front of the library. He called up out of breath and said there was a wild cat intimidating people so they could not enter or exit the building.

I was fairly close so I started to run over. I asked if anyone was injured and he said no. I was expecting a group of people held up at the entrance by a huge cat hissing at everyone. I told him to keep away from it and stay on the line.

When I got there I found a tabby cat perched on a bench.

I verified the caller and the cat he called about. I went over to the cat with him and started pet him, he rolled over and let me scratch his belly.

The guy was shocked and said "oh, someone has domesticated it."

Yup. I smiled and walked away.

#11

My company has an emergency number for chemical/medical/facility emergencies, that forwards to my personal phone and rings an alarm that's probably guaranteed to raise me from the dead.

A manager realized this *was* a direct line to my personal phone that I would not ignore under any circumstances, and started calling the emergency number to reach me when I was off from work with issues like "an app on my PC can't find the network, help me right now". I am not the company's IT support.

Our director was extremely displeased with their poor judgement.

#12

Not an operator, but my now-ex boyfriend who called in.

He usually worked a late shift, walking home about 2 am. This shift he got off work a few hours late...

BF: I'd like to call and report a fire. [We live in a fire prone area and it was the season.]

911: Where is it located sir?

BF: On the hillside just East of [City].

911: Can you be more specific? [_Typing away in the background._]

BF: Yes, [gives a more detailed location]. Oh god, it's getting bigger! The whole top of the hill is on fire now!

911: Stay calm sir, we're sending somebody out.

BF: It's getting bigger! Doesn't anybody else see this?! It's lighting up the sky around it...it's huge! Oh god! Oh...oh, wait...

911: Sir?

BF: I am SO sorry...I'm not usually out this time of night, I just got off work late...that's, that's the sun...

911: ...

BF: I am so, so sorry for wasting your time, there is no fire, that's just the sun rising. Never mind. I'm really embarrassed...

911: That's fine, Sir. I will cancel the call, thank you for calling.

EDIT: Former boyfriend said I forgot a detail so I added it in.

#13

Not an operator; I'm a prosecutor. Guy lived in a rooming house that had a public area where all the residents could hang out. It had a microwave in it provided by the landlord. Guy called 911 around midnight one night *because the microwave wasn't there*. The conversation with the dispatcher went something like this:

**Dispatcher:** "So... you called 911 because a microwave you don't even own is missing? Did you ask your landlord if he took it?"

**Guy:** "Uh, no."

**Dispatcher:** "Well, that's not an emergency, sir."

**Guy:** "But I'm really hungry."

Meanwhile, a person with an actual emergency had to be put on hold briefly because this guy was adamant that this was the worst thing to ever happen. The genius insisted that police officers be sent to his rooming house ASAP because of the missing microwave. Officers showed up--so they could cite him for improper use of 911.

The guy pleaded Not Guilty and requested a *jury trial*. He represented himself. The jury was out 20 minutes before it announced its Guilty verdict.

#14

Oh dear god, time to shine. Had a lady trying to call an ambulance because she opened a package from Amazon at home and she was afraid that that her kid was about to have a major allergic reaction... From the packing Peanuts.... because the kid was allergic to peanuts, and when her kid mentioned what they were called, she freaked out.

#15

I was a 911 dispatcher for just under a year. Realized that it is NOT for me. A lot if respect for those peeps! This was in Gilbert, Arizona (if you know about this place this story shouldn't surprise you). The call came in from an elderly woman because there was a "black guy" at the park. I asked her what he was doing she said "Nothing, he's just sitting there." So I asked her what the problem was. Her response was "he shouldn't be there". I almost sent the cops to her place to pick her up as a mentally unstable person.

#16

Not an 911 operator but I work in the ER and the amount of young men (typically) who come in after their first major hangover always has me laughing.

To those who are angry or upset about this please know we can see the difference between alcohol poisoning and a bad hangover.

#17

My mum’s town will post police/911 activity in the newspaper. It’s so often not criminal activity, and when it is it’s usually teenagers checking car doors but not actually stealing anything.

More often than anything else it’s bored, quietly racist, retirees calling whenever they see a brown person. Example: “Complained of strange woman entering neighbour’s home. No forced entry. Officers greeted by neighbour’s new housekeeper.”.

#18

Not a dispatcher but when I was in EMS we were dispatched to a psych call. When we got there this lady was standing out side her house ready to go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I was talking to her and trying to get her vitals when she told me there was nothing wrong with her that she heard a family member was in the hospital and needed a ride, so she called 911. Cops met us at the hospital for her.

#19

Someone called 911 because their cat looked “sad.” I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

#20

I don’t work for 911 but I used to work at a restaurant and we had a guy one time who called 911 because we refused to serve him alcohol. 1 he looked like he was 16 years old and didn’t have an ID. 2 he was already so drunk he couldn’t actually manage to sit on a barstool and not fall off.

And we were fairly sure he drove there. One of our managers was actually on the phone calling the nonemergency police line to see if somebody could come pick him up and dump him in the drunk tank when this guy decides to call 911 that we won’t serve him liquor.

#21

Not a 911 operator, but a former EMT. We had a call for a guy with a toothache. At 3AM. On a Saturday. The guy stated that he'd been hurting for about three weeks, and no it wasn't getting any worse. He was insisting on going to the hospital no matter how much we discouraged him.

Then he keeled over and went into cardiac arrest. Not so stupid anymore.

#22

Police 911 operator here for 15 years. The stories I have.

* I've had someone call 911 to know how long to smoke a brisket.
* I've had someone call 911 to ask what the fines for parking tickets are.
* I've had someone call 911 to wish me a merry xmas when I was working at 3am on on Christmas Morning
* I've had someone call 911 report that their trunk wasn't opening and they wanted to know what to do about it.
* I've had someone call 911 in a rural community because a black dude was walking down the street and "we don't get their kind here".
* I worked on 9/11. I had people call 911 for weeks after because there were "3 brown guys in a car and I thought you should know about it."
* I've had someone call 911 because they were lonely. About 1,000 times.

And many, many more.

I've done this for a while. Do people over-use the system? Sure. But for the most part I'm happy with how our children are taught to only use 911 if it's a life or death emergency or if there's a crime in progress.

#23

NZ has 111 operators that connect you to emergency services. I used to be a 111 operator and before are some of the dumbest things I've had

* The moon is too big

* Government spiders are in my ears again

* The neighbour has recorded me coughing and has been playing it back to me for 24 hours on high

* The people in my living room are watching coronation Street and I don't like it (plot twist! She was the only one home and had left the tv on)

* I can't turn my shower off

* DEEEEZ NUUUTS! (More times than I can count)

* Everyone is driving at me and I don't like it (plot twist! He was driving the motorhome ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!).

#24

Me: "911 this line is recorded, what is your emergency?"

Caller: "hi, um I don't know if this counts, but four days ago I noticed a Uhual truck in my neighbor's driveway."

Me: "okay?"

Caller: "Well the two guys looked really suspicious. They were walking around the house like they didn't belong there."

Me: "Four days ago?"

Caller: "it's been bothering me because my neighbors have been on vacation and no one should be there."

Me: ......"okay we'll take a look."

The entire house had been ransacked. All the valuables were gone. Too much time had passed for the local pawn shops to have the items because they know what is stolen and needs to be moved quickly. LPT: if something doesn't seem right don't ever second guess calling the cops immediately. If the operator gives you attitude, make a complaint.

#25

My dad accidentally threw away the little card phones used to have where you'd write down what the quick dial buttons were for. So he decided to fill in a new one. Only issue is he didn't know what they were anymore.

So he called them. One after the other.

When he found the button for police, he got the 911 operator. Thinking quickly, he just hung up. They traced the call and sent the fire department, an ambulance, and two cop cars. My dad had to explain what he'd done. They laughed, told him to be more careful next time. No harm, no foul.

Then he continued his efforts and found the button that connected to the fire department... Everyone was sent back and they were a little less amused.

#26

"How far down is it snowing?" All the way to the ground, now get the f**k off my emergency line!

And my personal favorite, exact quote:
"My washing machine is telling me to file for bankruptcy." This was a confused elderly lady so it was actually a little sad, but I'm including it because it left me completely speechless at the time. I think my response was, "I... you... what?"

#27

Not on operator but once someone called cops on me for 'leaving an unattended bag' in the park by our house.
Thing was, it was in a town of less than 1000 people. Tiny park. I was there the whole time, I set it on the table while I played with my young kids. The entire park is visible from any direction. I was never more than 100 ft from my sons diaper bag and the cops came and seemed really confused when they saw me and asked if it was my bag. I was, like, yeah?
Then they told me why they came and I was floored. They were annoyed with whoever called and left without further questioning.

#28

Every year our local police put out a list of dumb calls. Every year people call 911 because their garbage wasn’t picked up, or their internet/tv aren’t working. 🤔.

#29

Not a 911 operator but I was a campus police officer at an expensive private university.

I got dispatched to a call of a man unloading boxes from his car in a parking garage. I was extremely confused and called our dispatch center on my personal phone to try to get more details. Turns out someone had seen a black man unloading boxes from his car, and baselessly suggested that the car was stolen. I just drove around the parking garage for a minute and cleared the call.

#30

I once got a call from 911, "do you have a child with an emergency"? The dispatcher was being professional, but I could tell she was trying not to laugh. I say one moment as I walk upstairs to interrogate my then 5-year-old.

He loved trucks. I'd given him a video with emergency vehicles; firetrucks, ambulances, police cars. I guess they thought this was a good place to advertise "hey kids, call 911 (if you have an emergency)". Such a convincing message, he called.

I asked why. His answer: my neck hurts.

#31

I have been in the 911 biz for over 22 years. If a caller starts the call with "I swear I'm not crazy" then you need to buckle up for some insanity. A guy started a call with those words after escaping from his apartment and running to the closest 7-11. He swore that his roommates were turning into giant crabs. The was going to show the officers that they were currently in giant cocoons transforming. As you might expect he was tripping balls.

#32

9-1-1 dispatcher/supervisor for 5+ years here.

We get a ton of misdials because some genius at Verizon decided it would be a good idea to have phone numbers that start with "991-"

Had a woman call because her "baby" wasn't breathing, so we gave her instructions to do CPR. Medics got there and found her doing CPR on her dog.

Had another woman call saying her cat was stuck in a tree. I just knew she wanted the fire department to come save the cat, so I got my "that's only in movies/TV" speech ready. Then she said "...so my husband climbed up to get the cat and now he's stuck too.".

#33

My dad told me about multiple ridiculous 911 calls during his time as a paramedic. One of the most ridiculous was a woman called for “being out of milk” and that she needed them to get some for her. Happened twice with the same woman. She didn’t have dementia as they initially suspected, turns out she was just super entitled.

#34

Firefighter friend years ago sent on a call where a family reported white powder on their table.

I think he said they thought it was anthrax. Crew quickly located the source of the "anthrax"...opened box of powdered donuts.

#35

When I was a kid I called 911 and yelled: "NAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SYYBENNNYAHHHHHHHHHH BADAGEESEEEEBABAOOOOHHHHHHHH" into the phone. The Lion King had just come out and I thought it was hilarious. After the third or fourth time they sent a police officer to the house and he gave me a stern talking to. My mom was pretty embarrassed.

#36

My dad grew up in a small town. One year while back home visiting his mom he forgot some laundry in her dryer and left for the airport. She called the police, and they actually showed up to collect the laundry then pulled my dad over on the highway and delivered it to him.

#37

Once at the hotel I used to work for, a guest called 911 intending to reach me at the front desk. The 911 Operator called me back saying likely the woman was a moron but asked me to go check out the room anyway. I did and the woman kept saying the print on the phone said to dial 911, which is correct but it also says to do so in an emergency. It further says to dial 0 to reach the front desk, both of which should be pretty much basic for anyone who has spent any time at all in the US.

The best part was that I could maintain my professional helpfulness and still got to see her husband just disgusted with her stupidity.

#38

Paramedic here,

Once we had a young woman call 911 around 2am saying that her legs were turning blue. Turns out she had worn a new pair of jeans to the club that night.

#39

Had a drunk person call to report he was being harassed. Truth was..... He was being arrested by our officers for throwing pizza at people. All I heard in the background was one of my officers saying to him "that better not be our dispatcher on the phone" followed by some muffled talking and my officer taking the phone and saying "he will be taking a ride with us now" and hung up.

Still laugh about it to this day.

Also had a drunk woman call 911 because she couldn't remember her phone pass code.

#40

Caller: A deer just swam across the river behind my house.

Me: Okay?

Caller: Well I am worried it might be cold.

Me:.......Well there is nothing we can do about a deer being cold. Didn't it run off after swinning the river?

Caller: Yes.

Me: Well ma'am it's a wild animal and I'd guess it's going to be fine.

Caller: ok.

#41

I'm not a 911 operator but I heard someone dialed 911 to request a mugshot of her to be removed from the internet, she got charged for misuse of 911 and had a new mugshot.

#42

I had a guy call 911 just because he wanted to see fire trucks and ambulances with lights and sirens. He miscalculated. There was a cop too...and he was not amused. Dude spent the night in jail.

#43

I was a paramedic, worse was the woman calling for us to transport her with the flu. Her reason, since she's on Medicare it costs nothing to call an ambulance but about $10 for a taxi. In the middle of transport, had alittle girl stop breathing right next to our station. Took the next closest unit about 10 minutes to get there when it would have taken us less than a minute. Yeah, I didn't last long in that field.

#44

If you want an opposite story kind of, once I called the police non-emergency line because I heard gunshots outside of my (very Canadian, very suburban) house. The officer took my report and then said, “… well, should this ever happen again I’d like to encourage you to call 911 and not the reporting desk.”

My husband and I also spent fifteen plus minutes debating if we should call or not, and the officer had questions about that too.

#45

We had a squad that called in for non transport because the caller had pooped and couldn't wipe. So they called 911 to have them wipe their bum. *blink*.

#46

My aunt was at 911 for 30+ years in Florida. Lots of stories - one night, a lady called from the McDonald's drive-thru because they were out of chicken nuggets.

#47

Paramedic here.

I had a guy who picked his wart at 3am and it was bleeding.

That's it. That's the story.

#48

I'm in the UK where it's 999, but essentially the same thing. I didn't work there for very long, but I remember a really drunk lady calling up from a bar on a Sunday afternoon to tell me she couldn't find her coat.

When I told her it wasn't an emergency she went crazy at me.

#49

Worked at a Level 1 trauma center.
We had a guy come in with his wife after demanding that an ambulance transport him to the hospital. He was less than two blocks away. All he had was a broken finger.

Another time, we got a call for a major trauma, single vehicle collision with the median or something like that reported two patients. First one rolls in at a reasonable time. Then we stand around waiting for the second dude. Ends up showing up 20-30 minutes later. Turns out he started arguing with the medics cause he wanted one last cigarette before he went to the hospital.

#50

Bad dream. Cut myself shaving. I cant get my car into the driveway, will you park it for me?

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here