A 24-year-old man was arrested in East Windsor, New Jersey, on December 23, for calling 911 a total of 17 times for a bizarre reason. Adam Vaughn was charged with misusing the town’s 911 system for allegedly calling emergency dispatchers multiple times.
Instead of taking an Uber, Vaughn allegedly wanted the police to personally shuttle him back and forth to the nearest convenience store Wawa in neighboring Hightstown. After his first few attempts, East Windsor police visited him at the Windsor Hotel where he was staying to warn him not to make the calls. Cops asserted that calling 911 was only for emergencies.
However, Vaughn allegedly kept making the calls even after the warning, according to New York Post. He was eventually placed in handcuffs after placing the 17th 911 call. Vaughn was also given a criminal summons for obstruction.
When should one dial 911?
The three digit telephone number has been designated as the ‘Universal Emergency Number’ for people across the United States for requesting emergency assistance, It gives people fast and easy access to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
According to the National Emergency Number Association, “In the United States, the first catalyst for a nationwide emergency telephone number was in 1957, when the National Association of Fire Chiefs recommended use of a single number for reporting fires.”
{{/usCountry}}According to the National Emergency Number Association, “In the United States, the first catalyst for a nationwide emergency telephone number was in 1957, when the National Association of Fire Chiefs recommended use of a single number for reporting fires.”
{{/usCountry}}The website adds, “In 1967, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that a "single number should be established" nationwide for reporting emergency situations. The use of different telephone numbers for each type of emergency was determined to be contrary to the purpose of a single, universal number.”
911 was eventually chosen since the number “met public requirements because it is brief, easily remembered, and can be dialed quickly,” and also because “it is a unique number, never having been authorized as an office code, area code, or service code, it best met the long range numbering plans and switching configurations of the telephone industry,” according to the website.