The many benefits of cellphones are obvious, but they are also chewing up police resources.
In the six-month period ending in September, Creston RCMP received 92 “emergency” 911 calls. The problem, RCMP Staff Sgt. Bob Gollan said, is that only 14 were for legitimate emergencies. The other 78 were considered to be “abandoned” — the source could not be traced, the number was dialed inadvertently or phone service issues were blamed.
“We are required to follow up on each and every 911 call,” Gollan said. “Doing so when the call isn’t an emergency distracts officers from other work.”
Gollan said that false alarms are also a drain on resources, with 119 incidents in the same period.
“Of course, we don’t know that an alarm has been activated by accident or is just sensitive to something like wind gusts until our members arrive on the scene,” he said. “But when they are attending false alarm calls it can divert them from something more urgent.”
Police Beat
Creston RCMP responded to 67 calls for service from Nov. 28-Dec. 4, Gollan said on Monday.
November 28
•Police were called to the site of a family dispute on 11th Avenue North but found that only a verbal argument had taken place.
•A 12-speed Sportek Komodo bicycle was found on Highway 21 and can be claimed by the owner at the police station.
•A vehicle was rear-ended at Vancouver Street and 10th Avenue North by a red Dodge Caravan driven by an elderly male with white hair and sunglasses, who than left the scene without stopping. Minor damage was sustained by the vehicle that was hit.
•A group of males exited from a crew cab, broke into a residence on Seventh Avenue North, “tossed” it and left. The men were unknown to the complainant.
•November 29
•A blue Kuwahara mountain bike was stolen from a garage on Dogwood Street.
November 30
•Creston RCMP assisted Vancouver police in serving a subpoena at an Aspen Place residence.
•No injuries were reported after a vehicle went off Highway 3 near Topaz Creek.
•A 911 call from an Ibbitson Street address appears to have been the result of “pocket dialing”, in which buttons appear to have been pressed by the movement of a phone being carried in a pocket.
•A male was arrested for breaching court conditions not to consume alcohol following a domestic disturbance on Sixth Avenue North.
December 1
•A stolen vehicle crossed the centre line of Highway 3 at the Yahk train overpass and crashed into a concrete barrier. The vehicle’s occupants were gone when police arrived.
•A purse was stolen from an unlocked vehicle on Hurl Street.
•A vehicle stolen in Creston was abandoned by the thieves at the weigh scales at the highway 3/95 junction.
•A female driver without a valid licence was stopped on Helen Street and her vehicle was towed. She was issued a ticket for driving while prohibited.
•Two sets of keys were stolen from an unlocked vehicle at the Yahk weigh scales. An attempt to steal a Dodge Caravan at the same location was unsuccessful because the vehicle had no battery. Police believe both vehicles were likely entered by the thieves who abandoned the car at the weigh scales.
•A vehicle whose owner parked on the roadside to attend a 24th Avenue South house party was damaged on the driver’s side in a hit and run.
December 2
•An unlocked vehicle on Helen Street was entered. A bag containing a Bible and a binder was stolen and later recovered from a nearby ditch. Video surveillance tapes have identified a potential suspect and the investigation continues.
•A driver and his wife sustained minor injuries when their vehicle went off Highway 3 near Summit Creek bridge in icy road conditions.
•Police investigated a complaint about inappropriate photos of a female youth being displayed on cellphones at a local school. Gollan reminds readers that circulating and possessing such photographs can lead to criminal charges when they depict youths.
•Following a fight involving three students at a local school, one required hospital treatment. The school, social service personnel and police are working on the case.
•The female subject of an erratic driving complaint on Highway 3 in Erickson told police she drives slowly at night.
December 3
•A Red Deer resident will be visited by police after making a series of unwanted phone calls to a Meadowwood Road residence.
•No charges are pending following a complaint that a person left a small party on Seventh Avenue North with the beer.
•An Eighth Avenue South resident whose cellphone dialed 911 said he was having problems with the Blackberry.
December 4
•Two drivers who were driving erratically on Northwest Boulevard, each unhappy with the other’s driving habits, were warned about their behavior.
•The First Avenue North owner of a cellphone that made a 911 call said he had no idea how the number was dialed.
•Police are applying for an arrest warrant for a male who has breached a no contact court condition and broken his curfew.