Sheriff’s officials name April “911 Education Month”

Southern Colorado sheriff’s authorities are hoping to educate the public on how to make 911 calls for the right reasons.

That’s why they’ve named April “911 Education Month.”

“It’s important that people know where and when and how to call so that when the call takers take the call they can get them the help they need as quickly as possible,” Jackie Kirby, with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said.

Callers are advised only to dial 911 only in event of an emergency.

“We take upwards of 330k calls in any given year between (El Paso and Teller Counties),” explained Ben Bills, 911 authority spokesman.

But the misuse of 911 calls is something county officials are combating.

A new trend, called “swatting,” is one way people misuse the service. Swatting is when people falsely report a serious incident.

“Where (also) we see a lot of people misuse 911 is not necessarily what they’re calling for but calling it by mistake. Some people in town have a 9 and 1 in the first three numbers of their phone number,” Bills added.

Sheriff’s office authorities will visit 40 different schools in El Paso and Teller counties to each kids the basics of 911 calling.