Cable phone sent false 911 call

[OGShaman]

I have been staying at my grandma's house lately because she has been in poor health. Early this morning everyone in the house is still sound asleep when I hear someone banging away on the front door, and I think to myself who the hell is knocking like they are the cops. Well turns out it was the cops.

They tell me they just received a 911 hang up from the house. I told them everyone is asleep, and they proceeded to wake everyone up, and lined us up on the couch in our PJs, and started questioning us like they aren't getting the whole story.

2 other cops were searching all three floors of the house including the basement. Being that its my grandma's house we had nothing there to worry about.

She has a cable package that includes tv, internet, and phone. The phone service has its own cable modem seperate from the cable modem for the internet. It was raining this morning, but not storming. The cops checked the phones to see the last number called. It was not 911, but they did notice that the phones weren't even working though the tv and the internet was.

They determined that somehow a glitch with the cable phone system somehow sent a 911 signal to their dispatch. Had there been something in the house this would have really sucked.

 

[OGShaman]

Forgot to mention that the cops were very polite about the whole situation, and apologized for the confusion and waking us up, even though it wasn't really their fault.

 

[Chimera]

Baffling as it is, some old cordless phones start randomly dialing numbers when their batteries get low, and often they will dial 911.

We had the same experience 25 years ago, cops showed up in the middle of our sunday family dinner - the cops were convinced one of the kids in the house was playing with the phone. After that was quashed, they admitted that this does happen sometimes with cordless phones.

I've never plugged in a battery operated phone at any grow since.

 

[Funnymoney420]

It's happened to me before. There was no search and it was only one cop who was very polite and took our word. It's funny it happened 7am in the morning too. It was weird though because we had no line phone. We did have internet though.

 

[OGShaman]

I'm pretty good friends with not one, but two of our local Alderman, and I told them both this story, and they said they were going to make some inquiries into how a mistake like that was made. Hopefully some flaws in the system can be corrected, and it will help others in the future.

 

[dddaver]

Some years ago my phones were not working, once again, and I was trying to figure out where the problem was and happened to be outside checking the telephone box when a Sheriff car rushed in. But I hadn't touched any wires and had just opened it when he pulled in, or so I thought anyway. I had just gotten out there. He said they had received a 911 call from here. But after asking me what the problem was, and after seeing what I was doing, and me explaining the problem, he just left. I thought it was all kinda strange. If my phones didn't work, how did 911 call work? If a short I caused from the box had sent it, they had responded super fast.

I did have a wireless phone extension back then but the whole system wasn't working. I have long since gone entirely wireless, porting my home number, and unplugged everything from the outside box. Fuck that shit. WAY too complicated to even try think about at all.

That very same oinker had pulled me over once before that too. The whole thing smelled fishy. Jesus, meth labs out the ass around here, and the pigs were are watching ME?

Now, where did I leave my tin foil hat?

 

[that smell]

Had this happen years ago. I was asleep as I had worked the night shift . Cop said they had received 922 call and he had to search the house. Looked in closets, in the bathroom cabnets, everywhere. Seems like at the time I had a land line. Weird how they show up super fast for hangups but it takes forever when people actually do call 911.

 

[Kcar]

Two weeks ago at 7am on a saturday morning the sheriff came a knockin.
Said someone dialed 911 then kept pressing buttons.
Found my 2 year old under the table with the phone.

 

[tokersmoke]

I would definitely refuse a search if this happend at a grow house.

 

[atk7]

Moisture on the line can randomly simulate a pulse dial 911 call . If you have a cable modem line the problem is a wet wire in the house somewhere, start looking for leaks . If it has been raining it could be a wire stapled on the outside of the house that is worn or has come loose and may be touching the ground or in a puddle replace it , or remove it. Even if it is a wire that is going to a jack you dont have a phone plugged into or use it is still part of the circuit and can be affected. the water is the culprit this is not an uncommon occurance . If you can hear any stattic at all when using the phone there is still a problem . Good maintenance to all utilities is key to keep away all unwanted visitors. A call for repair from the service provider may be worth the money for them to come isolate it. For you to tell you which wire is bad vs a midnight wellness search of the premises by leo

 

[spacecadet]

i had this happen last summer on a sunday morn cop came banging on my back door asking me why i call 911 i told him i didn't and i was having phone problems then he ask me if any one else was home and i told him yes my gf was there he ask was she ok and i said yes and he turned around and left. Sad part was he was standing 3 foot from a plant i had growing but you could not see it to will cuse i had a tomato plant kind of blocking the view and girl friend just got done smoking from a pipe, he walk right by the exhaust fan blowing the smoke out the dam window. found out later my dsl filters where fucking up and the phone company said i had crossed wire some where from the pole to the street

 

[JamesFarmer]

VOIP services are notorious for this kind of thing. Cable (tv) based phone, Vonage & 8x8 etc.

The traditional landline carriers maintain a database of customer phone numbers and physical addresses strictly for 911 purposes. It is referred to as "ANI/ALI". Automatic Number Identification/Automatic Location Identification.

They do a fairly good job of keeping this current. Each 911 center has someone charged with working with the phone carriers to help maintain MSAG (Master Street Address Guide) and correct any errors found.

Unfortunately VOIP carriers have not caught up. When you sign up for VOIP service the carrier will create a record using the location information you give them. If you give them bad info, you move and don't notify them or if they fail to update the info when the number passes from one customer to another then when a 911 call is made from that number the address that pops up on the Dispatcher's screen is wrong.

I was in a 911 dispatch center last year (I repair 911 phone systems) I observed a 911 call come in. It was a woman who was being physically abused by her husband. The call was placed on a Vonage VOIP account. When the Vonage account was set up the address given was an address at Ft. Lewis in Washington State. The 911 call was routed to the 911 center that covers that area.

Well the man that the Vonage account belonged to had been stationed (Army) at Ft Lewis when he set it up. He was later transferred to South Korea. The call for help originated from his new home in Korea and was routed to the 911 center in Washington and showed an address there. Police were dispatched only to find that he did not live there any more.

 

[Coconutz]

Way back before we had to dial the area code, I had a number that started with 791-1***.
I tried calling my mom from my dads house and accidentally didnt hit the 7. I was connected to 911 and just hung up.
I went outside and a few minutes later the pigs just walked right in my house...
They found my dad sitting on the toilet and the stupid pigs thought it could be a bomb situation!
Like if he got up the toilet would explode!
Im not fucking kidding, they actually said that shit!
They watch too many fucking movies!

 

[JamesFarmer]

Way back before we had to dial the area code, I had a number that started with 791-1***.
I tried calling my mom from my dads house and accidentally didnt hit the 7. I was connected to 911 and just hung up.
I went outside and a few minutes later the pigs just walked right in my house...
They found my dad sitting on the toilet and the stupid pigs thought it could be a bomb situation!
Like if he got up the toilet would explode!
Im not fucking kidding, they actually said that shit!
They watch too many fucking movies!

Roger Murtaugh: "I'm getting too old for this shit....."

 

[Coconutz]

 

[Elements001]

How bad would it be if this happened and the cops did find a grow? Wouldn't they eventually find out that the 911 call was never actually made and that it was a glitch? I would think that if that was so they wouldn't be able to use the evidence against you since it was all a false positive or whatever it was.
I'd still look into fixing things for sure, but just thought that it would be dismissed in court anyway.

I guess they'd be onto you after that though, and that would SUCK.

 

[Fly by Night]

That's a knock and talk around here...next comes the fuggin swat team. Time to move people!

 

[OGShaman]

That's a knock and talk around here...next comes the fuggin swat team. Time to move people!

Not sure if you are referring to me, and that I should move, but if you noticed in the OP I mentioned that it was my grandma's house this happened at. There has never been a bowl smoked in her house, much less a plant grown there. It was no where near a knock and talk

 

[JointOperation]

I have been staying at my grandma's house lately because she has been in poor health. Early this morning everyone in the house is still sound asleep when I hear someone banging away on the front door, and I think to myself who the hell is knocking like they are the cops. Well turns out it was the cops.

They tell me they just received a 911 hang up from the house. I told them everyone is asleep, and they proceeded to wake everyone up, and lined us up on the couch in our PJs, and started questioning us like they aren't getting the whole story.

2 other cops were searching all three floors of the house including the basement. Being that its my grandma's house we had nothing there to worry about.

She has a cable package that includes tv, internet, and phone. The phone service has its own cable modem seperate from the cable modem for the internet. It was raining this morning, but not storming. The cops checked the phones to see the last number called. It was not 911, but they did notice that the phones weren't even working though the tv and the internet was.

They determined that somehow a glitch with the cable phone system somehow sent a 911 signal to their dispatch. Had there been something in the house this would have really sucked.

if your going to start growing.. know your rights.. if that happens while growing.. u need to know when and if they are even allowed to come in during a 911 call that was a hangup.. or what...

could of turned into a wakeup call and an arrest lol..

good luck.. hope all is well.