Unnecessary calls still being received
By Paul Hall on Friday, August 6th, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – La Grande Police Department’s Ronda Griffin, who is the manager of the Union County 911 Dispatch Center, said the center is still receiving numerous non-emergency calls on their 9-1-1 lines. The biggest reason Griffin said, is people don’t take the time to find the non-emergency number, so the easy way out is to call 9-1-1.
The dispatch center typically staffs a couple of dispatchers at a time and sometimes only one answering the telephone and radios. If one dispatcher is on duty and they receive a non-emergency call, it ties up that dispatcher and could jeopardize a real emergency call. One example is the dispatch center may get calls asking when the power will be back on or those asking when the freeway will be back open during closures, with only six 9-1-1 lines that could potentially tie up the lines for a real emergency.
Also, Griffin said kids that play with phones and dial 9-1-1 on a disabled phone which still has the capability of calling 9-1-1. It does take time to try and decipher if the call is real or not.
Griffin also commented and said the dispatch center has received calls about wildlife, such as deer on Adams Avenue, and worried that they may get hit.
The important thing to remember the dispatch center says, for non-emergency calls the business number is 541-963-1017.
