Woman calls 911 to see if her new phone works: police

Ontario Provincial Police officers have a simple message for Ontarians: please stop calling 911 for dumb reasons.

Police say that at 10:54 a.m. on Sunday, a woman dialed 911 and told the dispatcher that she had just gotten a new phone, and was calling to see if it was working.

According to an OPP news release, the woman then hung up, which left officers no choice but to "extensively patrol the area" in an effort to find her.

No emergency was found, and the OPP is now reminding the public, again, that 911 should be reserved for emergencies only.

"Please do not call 911 about a power outage or to inquire about road conditions or if you have a sick raccoon on your property or to order food," the news release reads. "This is not an emergency."

"Whether false alarms are intentional or unintentional, they tie up the phone lines at the communications centre, waste taxpayer money, tie up law enforcement officers and threaten lives," Const. Ed Sanchuk of the Norfolk County OPP said in a statement.