Georgia Sixth-Grader Apologizes To Dispatchers After Prank 911 Call

A sixth-grader in Georgia has learned that prank calls are bad. The unnamed boy personally handed an apology letter to the Savannah, Georgia, 911 dispatchers after he made a prank call to the station and called the answering officer “Dezz Nuts.”

In late May, the emergency communications officers at the Savannah-Chatham County 911 Center were surprised to see a little boy hand-delivering a note to them. The note, handwritten by the boy, explained what he did and why he did it.

“Last night I called and said ‘Dezz Nuts,’” the boy wrote, further explaining that his friends dared him to call the hotline. He knew what he was doing was “stupid,” but he did not listen to himself. He asked for forgiveness, acknowledging that there would be consequences for his action.

“In the end I got in trouble for it and this is a letter for you. I am sorry for what I did and hope that you can forgive me,” the letter reads.

The emergency center posted a photo of the handwritten note on its website. According to the release, titled “Apology Accepted,” his parents drove him to the 911 Center to deliver the note and read it aloud to the on-duty shift after learning about their son’s prank call. They had put their son on “lockdown” for the prank.

The staff officials accepted his apology and helped turn the experience into a positive one by taking the boy and his parents on a tour of the facility. They showed how the staff work to help people who need legitimate emergency assistance. They also explained how prank calls can put the general public in danger by interrupting the staff’s work and therefore taking the dispatchers and first responders away from performing their duties.

Savannah Police Public Information Officer Julian Miller told ABC News that they were impressed with the boy and his parents’ initiative. He praised the mother and the father for getting involved and giving their child appropriate punishment for his misdeed. He also commended the staff for taking time to give the child a tour of the facility and reward him for owning up to his mistake.

The boy wasn’t the first one to call 911 for a flimsy reason. In November 2014, two brothers from Wisconsin thought their concern was classified as an emergency when they called the dispatchers to ask to be connected to Santa Claus.

Mayville, Wisconsin, police officers responded to a hang-up call on Nov. 23. The police made contact with two young brothers, a 3-year-old and a 6-year-old. The boys explained how they managed to use their father’s phone to call 911 in a bid to talk to Santa.