The Bremer County Sheriff’s Office says they are seeing an increase in misuse of 911. They have recently received 911 calls reporting a missing dog, reporting a found dog, cat in a tree, dog in a tree, parking complaints, a flat tire, sick animals, reporting a normal speeding violation, the smell of marijuana, fireworks, loud music, lost or found items, scams and even asking what today’s date is. The sheriff’s office says 911 should be reserved for actual emergencies. They say if your call begins with the statement, “This is not an emergency…” you should not be calling 911. In those cases the number to call is 319-352-5400 option 3. They are also reminding the public that if you accidentally call 911 to just stay on the line and tell the dispatcher that. If you try to hang up, they still get alerted and then the dispatchers must work to get back in contact with you, wasting their time.
