TORONTO, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Toronto 911 emergency dispatchers took more than 107,000 calls accidentally dialed from cellphones in people's pockets last year, police said Monday.
Several regional police forces launched an awareness campaign in the city against what's called "pocket dialing" and made an appeal to "Lock it Before You Pocket."
In addition to the accidental calls, emergency officials said another 116,000 people called 911 while trying to dial another number.
In all, the unnecessary calls accounted for 18 percent of total calls, Constable Wendy Drummond said.
She told the Globe and Mail locking keypads was the simplest way to avoid endangering lives.
"When you've got a legitimate emergency, every second counts," Drummond said. "When we receive a pocket dial or misdial, the amount of time that we have to spend getting someone back on line … that takes time away the operator could be using to deal with a legitimate emergency."
In a YouTube video of a real "pocket dial" released Sunday, a man can be heard telling the dispatcher: "I call you guys like every day, man. It's an accident. If you see my number, it's an accident."
