Glitch sends 911 call to Henderson police

Friday, Aug. 1, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

A glitch in the Metro Police 911 routing system resulted in a Las Vegas call being rerouted to the Henderson Police Department on Wednesday night.

A man who lives in southwest Las Vegas near the Henderson border called 911 when a solicitor vandalized his house. The call was answered by the Henderson Police 911 center, Detra Page, spokeswoman for Sprint, said.

Henderson Police transferred the call to Metro, who told him the incident he was trying to report wasn't an emergency and to call 311, Page said. When the man called 311, the call was again answered by a Henderson dispatcher.

Sprint had the problem fixed within 24 hours, Page said. The incident was "highly unusual," she said.

"It was only one home. The problem was very isolated," she said. "Our database is extremely accurate."

Luckily, the man's call wasn't an emergency, but the issue was taken seriously by Metro.

"If it was a true 911 emergency, then you're losing valuable time," Officer Jose Montoya, spokesman for Metro, said.