Kids Called 911 and It Wasn't an Emergency

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York

My two children ages 9 and 8 decided to play with an old cell phone they found in a drawer. I forgot I even had the cell phone. It was 5yrs old. They have been spoken to in school and by both me and their father about never calling 911 unless it's an emergency. I had the police at my door today because the two of them decided to call 911 (15 times). They GPS tracked it to my house. These two are excellent students in school, we always get comments from teachers and other people on how respectful and well behaved they are. I let them play alone for a 1/2 hour and they did this. We were so outraged and I just couldn't understand why they would do it.

The police officers yelled at them (I'm glad they did.). They told us they had to refer it to a juvenile officer but that the kids appeared to be good kids and they would not push the issue. I destroyed the phone right there in front of them. I of course have also grounded them from everything for a long time after having a long discussion about why what they did was wrong.

My question is if the prosecutor decides to go ahead and press charges, What would be the possible outcomes?? I know we could be prosecuted because they are minors but I would like to know what charges could be filed, what fines could be in place, and what could they make my children do?


If nothing comes of this, I seriously would like to call the officer and ask if there's any community service they could do or any other program that would punish them for their actions. I think they need a stronger lesson then just being grounded by me. Do you think they would agree to it?

First, the likelihood of the DA pursuing such a charge against either an 8 or 9 year old child is remote.

Very remote.

Have you thought about taking them on a tour of your local fire department? Make sure the chief there, after showing them all that cool stuff, talks to them about the harm they could have done... what if there was a real fire or a real bad man running around while the police or the fire department responds to a false alarm kinda stuff.

It doesn't have to be the wrath of God... they made a mistake... they didn't try to skin the cat.

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Quoting cyjeff

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It doesn't have to be the wrath of God... they made a mistake... they didn't try to skin the cat.

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hey, what's wrong with skinning the cat? Ever cook one that wasn't skinned? You would never eat it once you smelled that smell.

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Have you thought about taking them on a tour of your local fire department? Make sure the chief there, after showing them all that cool stuff, talks to them about the harm they could have done... what if there was a real fire or a real bad man running around while the police or the fire department responds to a false alarm kinda stuff.

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This.

Young kids do stupid things all the time, because they're young and haven't really got good judgment. As far as stupid things go, this stunt is really along the lines of cramming Cocoa Puffs up your nose - it could have posed a massive inconvenience for some people, and it scared the hell out of others, but ultimately, no one was in any real danger and the situation was easily fixed.

My eldest dialed 911 a couple times one afternoon while I was in the shower. He was 6 at the time. The responding officers read him the riot act, the kid cried, and the the county prosecutor laughed when he called to tell me that charges would not be pursued.

He never called 911 frivolously again.

The Cocoa Puffs were another story entirely.

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Quoting cyjeff

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First, the likelihood of the DA pursuing such a charge against either an 8 or 9 year old child is remote.

Very remote.

Have you thought about taking them on a tour of your local fire department? Make sure the chief there, after showing them all that cool stuff, talks to them about the harm they could have done... what if there was a real fire or a real bad man running around while the police or the fire department responds to a false alarm kinda stuff.

It doesn't have to be the wrath of God... they made a mistake... they didn't try to skin the cat.

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Fifteen times? A mistake, I think not.

Thank You for all your responses. I like your suggestion cyjeff, that is a great idea. I was thinking about trying to set them up with a jail tour. I've already taken away all their toys, made their bed times 7pm, and no tv. I just want them to understand and get it through their heads what they did was wrong and not a game.

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Quoting cissycicle

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Fifteen times? A mistake, I think not.

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My kids, when little, were so into repetition I thought they were robots.

I still think that, while necessitating action on mom's part, this wasn't malicious.

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Quoting tigerlily73

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Thank You for all your responses. I like your suggestion cyjeff, that is a great idea. I was thinking about trying to set them up with a jail tour. I've already taken away all their toys, made their bed times 7pm, and no tv. I just want them to understand and get it through their heads what they did was wrong and not a game.

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Jail tours are a little rough on teenagers. Make that a LOT rough.

Besides, you don't want them to ever be SCARED to call 911... you just want to make sure that if they ever do it that they do it at the appropriate time. You also don't want to make them afraid of the police.

Fire stations are great places for these lessons. Non threatening but it should get your point across....that when emergency responders are forced to go to false calls...someone else that needs them RIGHT NOW may not get the service they need.