We've all been pocket dialed by someone or left with 10-minute voicemail messages of rumbling noises. As inconvenient and irritating as they are for the casual citizen, they are even more frustrating and worrisome for police and emergency responders.

9-1-1 gets pocket dialed thousands of times a year, with no penalty. As 9-1-1 pocket dials are on the rise, police are trying to inform citizens about the issue in hopes of reducing the number of calls. Joe Couto, the Director of Government Relations and Communications for the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said that it is not just a matter of wasting time but also money.

9-1-1 emergency communicators cannot simply dismiss what they think is an unintentional call because there is always the possibility it may be an emergency. The emergency communicator must call this anonymous caller back to ensure there was no emergency.

Police say someone who does accidentally dial 9-1-1 should stay on the line so they can tell the police right away it was unintentional and not waste more costly time.

According to the Toronto Police press release, 97,886 unintentional 9-1-1 calls were placed with the London Police Service between August and November of 2011. To put that in perspective that is 11.24 per cent of all emergency calls from that time period.

In comparison, Toronto Police Service received 1,227,791 calls in total in 2011: one in five of which were not actual emergencies and 107,748 of which were pocket dials.

In the first 10 days of this year, Sault Ste. Marie has received 901 accidental or non-emergency calls, which account for 30 per cent of total calls in that time. "It's a smaller community and if you multiply that within the larger communities, you can see how large that number really is," said Couto.

"People have been suggesting that the only way citizens like us will notice (that there are a significant number of 9-1-1 pocket dials) is if it hits us in the pocket books. But we are not interested in punitive actions. When it comes to this type of thing, simply taking a few seconds to lock your phone saves everyone the trouble. It needs a community response, easy small things to fix this problem," said Couto. The police are suggesting simple actions such as locking your phone and turning off the 9-1-1 auto-dial feature.

While police are still enforcing these simple tips, fines may become essential if numbers remain consistent or get worse. Couto said fines are something "municipalities are going to have to look at when we get more info on the impact this is actually having. This is costing money because it's eating up our resources and fines may be a tactic down the road by law makers, not law enforcers."

In the mean time, Couto suggested that "students can be the leaders here, they're smart and tech savvy."