Calling 911 is a very serious action. Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, you don’t realize what you’re going through isn’t actually an emergency. Unfortunately there are some people that are still calling 911 when it's not necessary.  In the past we've shared some of our favorite funny and ridiculous 911 stories. Below are some of our favorite 911 calls from the 2017 holiday season.

The Grinch is Planning to Steal Christmas

In Mississippi, five year old Ty-Lon Pittman was watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. He suddenly became very afraid and felt he needed to call 911. He told the 911 operator to watch out for the Grinch because he was going to steal Christmas. Ty-Lon’s father grabbed the phone and apologized to the 911 operator.

Later that day a police officer showed up at the door to talk to Ty-Lon and explain to him that the Grinch wasn't going to steal Christmas and invited him and his family to visit the police station on Monday.  When he was visiting the police station, Ty-Lon got to see a real Grinch (someone dressed up in a costume) in the back of a police car - and he got to lock him in a holding cell.

Dummy Causes 911 Calls

A practical joker in Boulder, Colorado, caused some commotion by creating a realistic-looking mock-up of a person hanging lights on his house. The dummy was so real looking that it caused many of the joker's neighbors to call 911. The dummy was positioned in such a way that it looked like someone had an accident while hanging Christmas lights and they were dangling by their hands.

Are You Okay in There?

When a Canadian woman heard yelling and shouting coming from her neighbor's apartment, she felt she needed to call 911. When the police arrived to check out the situation, they discovered the man was just having trouble on the toilet.

Outed By His Own Phone

A burglar in Shelby County, Ohio accidentally...erm...“derriere-dialed” 911 while breaking into a home. He then hid in the closet and was exposed by his phone again when the low battery warning went off and alerted police to his location.

Maybe a Little Too Realistic

A fire department in Regina, Canada, was called out to a local football stadium to put out a fire. When they got to the stadium, they realized the fire was just a very realistic burning log image on high definition TV.

No Cheating Allowed

A seven-year-old girl in Burnett, Wisconsin called 911 and hung up. When the police arrived at her house, they discovered that her grandfather was cheating at a game of cards.

While these 911 calls are entertainin,g we want to remind you that calling 911 is very serious and should be reserved for emergencies only. Spending time on calls that are not emergencies takes time out of a 911 operator’s busy day of answering emergency calls. KOVA Corp provides a number of public safety solutions for 911 call centers. If you’d like to learn more about improving processes at your 911 call center, contact us today.