On Monday, May 26th, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department received a series of calls from a man who was dialing 911 multiple times throughout the day for reasons that did not constitute an emergency. According to dispatchers, the caller was not only disrespectful but also refused to provide any details about his situation, insisting instead that he needed to speak with a supervisor. In light of this, the officer on duty was provided with the caller’s phone number and address, in case he did not answer when contacted.
When the officer reached out to the individual, he inquired about the nature of the calls and what assistance he required. The man explained that he had been harassed a few weeks earlier and felt the need for police presence at his home in Iron City. When the officer asked if there had been any incidents on that day, which was Memorial Day, the caller replied that nothing had occurred, but he expressed concern that the person he accused of harassing him might be “drinking, driving around, and acting out.” The officer then asked why he had chosen to call 911, to which the individual admitted he did so because he was “too lazy” to use the non-emergency number. He also claimed he had not been disrespectful to the dispatcher during his previous calls.
The officer took the opportunity to inform the man that using 911 for non-emergency situations is illegal and warned him that further misuse could lead to arrest. He also provided the caller with the correct non-emergency number. During their conversation, the officer gathered information about the vehicle associated with the alleged harasser, which was described as a silver Toyota pickup truck. Following this, the officer conducted a search around Iron City for approximately 30 minutes but was unable to locate any vehicle matching the description.
Later that evening, at approximately 8:03 PM, dispatch contacted the officer to report that the individual had called again, this time requesting to speak with a supervisor once more. Upon calling him back, the officer reiterated that he had conducted a thorough search and had not seen the vehicle in question. The caller then claimed he had lost the paper with the non-emergency number, which prompted him to dial 911 again. Frustrated, he abruptly hung up on the officer during their conversation.
Records from dispatch indicated that the individual had called 911 seven times between 4:00 PM and 8:28 PM, without ever utilizing the non-emergency line during that period. Given the frequency of the calls, the blatant disregard for the officer’s