By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

Police in Rollingwood want people to dial 9-1-1. 

After receiving numerous emergency calls on the administrative line, police are spreading the word to residents and local businesses to call 9-1-1 for emergencies. 

Rollingwood Police Department Chief Dayne Pryor said the department has received many voicemails from residents on the administrative phone for emergency situations.

One was to report a suspicious person staring in a homeowner’s window.

Other messages reported people not breathing or drowning, Pryor said. 

Pryor said the most recent abuse of the administrative line was the night police arrested a man in Rollingwood Feb. 9, charging him with burglary. 

While one resident called 9-1-1 to report a suspicious person that night, many others called and left messages. 

“That’s kind of when I said, ‘This is the last straw,’” Pryor said. 

That call from 9-1-1 went straight to the officer and led to the eventual arrest, he said. 

“This has been going on for years,” Pryor said.

Emergency calls to the administrative phone have recently increased significantly. 

“These calls are happening daily,” Pryor said. 

He said some people who left messages said they did not want to bother the police, or they weren’t sure their situation was an emergency. 

Residents should let the 9-1-1 dispatcher decide if it is a true emergency, Pryor said. 

“They’re not going to penalize you for it,” he said. 

In many instances, information from residents is time-sensitive. 

Pryor said the department once received a call from a man on his way to work who wanted to report that he found the windows of his automobile smashed that morning. 

Incidents such as that should be reported immediately, he said. 

Police will be issuing information cards off and on during the year to make sure residents and local businesses know to use 9-1-1 for emergencies.