A new and strange situation has apparently risen for Apple. The company is working with local authorities to remedy a surge of unintentional emergency calls to 911 that were apparently originating from the company’s distribution and repair center in Elk Grove, California.
The calls have reportedly been going on for months, averaging in ay 20 accidental calls a day and totaling over 1,600 since October. When 911 dispatchers attend the calls, they hear silence and intermittent employee chatter when they’re on call.
“We take this seriously and are working with local law enforcement to investigate the cause and ensure this doesn’t continue,” an Apple spokesperson told CBS 13 Sacramento. Apple said that it’s urgently working to stop further calls from taking place and not to clog up the lines for real emergencies. Since the start of the year, there have been 47 calls placed from Apple’s Elk Grove facility to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Communication Center.
“The times when it’s greatly impacting us is when we have other emergencies happening and we may have a dispatcher on another 911 call that may have to put that call on hold to triage the incoming call,” police dispatcher Jamie Hudson told CBS. In addition, police have made it clear that “public safety is not in danger” due to the situation from Apple’s Elk Grove facility.
