Kent police get misrouted 911 crisis calls

KENT, Ohio (AP) -- City police dispatchers handled 10 to 15 misrouted 911 calls per shift while a cell phone carrier worked to fix a glitch that was improperly sending them the emergency calls.
The problem, which was apparently corrected late this week, was limited to callers who dialed 911 on AT & amp;T Wireless cell phones, Capt. Greg Urcheck said.
Dispatchers in this northeast Ohio community handled calls from Akron, Canton, Massillon, Tallmadge, Fairlawn and Youngstown. None of the calls, which dispatchers rerouted to the right agency, caused a delay that resulted in a person's death, Urcheck said.
AT & amp;T Wireless spokesman Rick Ellis said the company hasn't determined what caused the glitch, which was first reported Sept. 15.
The problem appears to have involved the AT & amp;T Wireless system that converts 911 calls into 10-digit phone numbers and sends those calls to the correct law enforcement agency.
"You had a situation here where there was a call being placed, and for whatever reason, some of those calls were defaulted to the Kent city police department. That's been corrected," Ellis said.