Apple Watches Are ‘Disrupting’ The Police’s Emergency Services As Users Sleep
Image via Shutterstock
Police in Overland, Kansas, have been inundated with countless of fake 911 calls, so much so that it’s become a nuisance.
According to a report by Kansas City’s Fox 4 news, the police force has been receiving up to 250 fake emergency calls per hour. Where are all of these calls coming from? The Apple Watch.
As per iDrop News, a spokesperson for the Overland Park police confirmed that a growing number of fake emergency calls the force receives come from Apple Watches. Most aren’t malicious—in fact, watch users have been accidentally activating the emergency mode on their devices, leading them to dial 911 as they sleep.
“What happens is while people are moving around in their sleep or exercising, they’ll get the Apple Watch into emergency mode. Without knowing it, the watch will actually call 911,” said Overland Park Police Captain Jim Sutterby.
Unfortunately, the police aren’t allowed to ignore these fake 911 calls, as they’re required to follow up on every call, even if the caller is silent or hangs up.
With up to 250 calls an hour, the police force in Overland struggles to identify real emergencies from fake Apple Watch calls.
To prevent dialing 911 on accident, you can change the settings on your Apple Watch. First, launch the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap on the ‘My Watch’ tab, followed by ‘Emergency SOS’. Turn off the ‘Hold Side Button to Dial’ option, so your Apple Watch won’t be able to dial 911 automatically.
[via iDrop News, cover image via Shutterstock]
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