Old cell phones inconvenient for Cary 911

The Town of Cary says it's 911 center usually gets a lot of bogus calls, especially after the holidays, because many parents give their old cell phones to their children to play with.

Even if the service is canceled, dialing 911 still works.

"They dial 911 accidentally, and now we're dealing with them on the phone with us and there's no way for us to track to see if it really is a 911 call or just a prank," said Cary police Maj. David Wulff.

Cary says none of the false 911 calls kept dispatchers from getting to real emergencies but that they are simply an inconvenience.

The easy solution, they say, is to remove the battery from the phone before giving it to children.