I can write the future PART 2

I wrote to the Ottawa Citizen last week, blasting the OPP for their lack of actual police work. Suggesting they are nothing but glorified meter maids. Well instead of printing my article the Ottawa Citizen has written a story about why the OPP can't do any fucking real police work. The title should have been, "Defend Yourself! King Normandy is Pissed Off!"

I am a conspiracy theorist, but even if I wasn't, I would say, I've got one here. This story is a little too coincidental given the timing of their police blitz and my letter. Hopefully, I was the spark for some of the bogus calls.

Bogus emergency calls pour into OPP office

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=ad69e21c-27a1-4733-bfea-e5d8b1e9873d&k=44679

Lance Crossley, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Monday, August 21, 2006
The OPP Eastern Communications Centre in Smiths Falls received 52 bogus calls during a 24-hour period last week, including one call from a boy complaining to the operator that he wanted his lunch.

"When people say to us, 'Why aren't you out there fighting crime?' Well it may be because you misdialed 911," said OPP Sgt. Don Killens.

On its website, the OPP said that in a 24-hour period ending early Friday afternoon, 40 per cent of all 911 calls received -- a total of 52 -- were deemed not to be emergencies. These included 21 calls from children playing with phones. Each time a 911 call is received, be it bogus or not, an officer is required to investigate.

False emergencies eat up more time during the night, said Sgt. Killens, because the department doubles up officers to respond to calls. The frustration can mount even further when you factor in the geographic distances some OPP officers must travel in order to respond to a call.
Sgt. Killens said officers are often assigned to multiple events at once and have to prioritize, and because 911 is considered an emergency, false calls can often pull them away from more important matters.

"If they have a car collision, they would go to the 911 call, even though there may be injuries," he said. "It's difficult for the officers to manage their work when they are responding to 911 calls and the majority are not emergencies."

Earlier this year, the OPP's eastern region reported getting 862 misdialled calls for January and February. That figure did not even include misguided calls, which can border on comically ignorant.

The OPP has reported getting calls ranging from complaints about barking dogs to people asking for directions. Some callers have told operators they are just testing out their speed dials.
Sgt. Killens said he hopes people will stop programming 911 into their speed dials, especially since the whole idea of launching 911 was to give the public a quick and easy-to-dial emergency number.

"It causes officers to waste their time and to be used ineffectively, when they could be doing other things."