Apple's Elk Grove Repair Facility Makes ~20 Accidental 911 Calls a Day

emergencysosRepair technicians who work at Apple's repair facility in Elk Grove, California make frequent accidental 911 calls when testing Apple devices, Elk Grove police dispatcher Jamie Hudson told a local Sacramento news site.

The influx of calls started back in October of 2017, which coincides with the introduction of the Emergency SOS feature that was added to the iPhone with the launch of iOS 11.

"We've been seeing these calls for the last four months from Apple," said police dispatcher Jamie Hudson.

Dispatchers say the calls started back in October of 2017, and typically there's no one on the other line.

To activate Emergency SOS, iPhone 8 and iPhone X simply owners need to press and hold on the Side button while also holding the two volume buttons at the same time, or rapidly press on the side button five times. Older iPhone users simply need to press the Sleep/Wake button five times in rapid succession to call emergency services.

An Emergency SOS feature is also available on the Apple Watch and is activated by pressing on the side button of the device. It's not clear which devices are making the accidental calls, but placing a 911 call can be done with simple button presses on either device.

Elk Grove Police have received an average of 20 accidental 911 calls per day from Apple, adding up to about 1,600 calls since October. Police dispatcher Hudson says the calls take "valuable seconds" away from real 911 calls that could be life and death situations.

"The times when it's greatly impacting us is when we have other emergencies happening and we may have a dispatcher on another 911 call that may have to put that call on hold to triage the incoming call," he said.

It's not just the Elk Grove Police department that's affected -- the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Communication Center has also received 47 accidental 911 calls since January 1, and sometimes, dispatchers can hear technicians working in the background. There is a loud tone and a countdown that plays when Emergency SOS is activated with the auto call feature, but it may be that repair technicians are not able to hear it.

In a statement, an Apple spokesperson said the company is aware of the 911 calls coming from the repair facility and is working with law enforcement officials to put a stop to it.

"We're aware of 911 calls originating from our Elk Grove repair and refurbishment facility. We take this seriously and we are working closely with local law enforcement to investigate the cause and ensure this doesn't continue."

Emergency SOS is a feature that's enabled on every iPhone and Apple Watch by default, and it can't be disabled, so Apple may need to come up with a unique solution for its repair facilities.

While Emergency SOS can't be turned off, there are settings that can be turned on to cut down on accidental calls. On Apple Watch, "Hold to Auto Call" can be disabled by opening up the Watch app, choosing the "General" section in "My Watch" and then selecting "Emergency SOS."

On iPhone, auto call can be disabled by opening up the Settings app, navigating to "Emergency SOS" and toggling off "Auto Call."

emergencysosiphone
With Auto Call disabled on iPhone or Apple Watch, the same button presses will still activate emergency services, but you will need to use physical interaction in the form of a finger sliding across the screen to call 911 (or other emergency services numbers depending on your country).

Emergency SOS was recently credited with saving a woman and her 9-month old baby after she was hit by a drunk driver. The woman lost her phone in the collision, but was able to use the SOS feature on her Apple Watch to make an emergency call.

In addition to contacting 911, Emergency SOS serves another important purpose on the iPhone -- it quietly and discreetly disables both Touch ID and Face ID, allowing iPhone users who are being threatened to lock down their phones and require passcode entry instead of biometrics.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

billybobthornton Avatar
75 months ago
“Hello this is 911 what’s your emergency?”

“We need better software!”
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vic_w Avatar
75 months ago
Trust me... Apple is possessed by negligence. What a huge pile of garbage that company is. One of my best friends works there as a manager of whatever. He is actually the one who oversees the entire OS and iOS interfaces. When I talk to him, he keeps his mouth shut because he knows what I am saying is true. He is there because of the money and the reputation of the company but he knows the guts of Apple is pure garbage today.
BS. Let me guess ...Samsung?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheTruth101 Avatar
75 months ago
Trust me... Apple is possessed by negligence. What a huge pile of garbage that company is. One of my best friends works there as a manager of whatever. He is actually the one who oversees the entire OS and iOS interfaces. When I talk to him, he keeps his mouth shut because he knows what I am saying is true. He is there because of the money and the reputation of the company but he knows the guts of Apple is pure garbage today.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vic_w Avatar
75 months ago
Stick a cell jammer inside those spaces or require that this kind of work entails that it be done ONLY in a Faraday cage.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gsapienza Avatar
75 months ago
He is there because of the money and the reputation of the company.
Employees like your friend are the current main problem at Apple.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eow Avatar
75 months ago
Trust me... Apple is possessed by negligence. What a huge pile of garbage that company is. One of my best friends works there as a manager of whatever. He is actually the one who oversees the entire OS and iOS interfaces. When I talk to him, he keeps his mouth shut because he knows what I am saying is true. He is there because of the money and the reputation of the company but he knows the guts of Apple is pure garbage today.
A product manager doesn't "oversee the entire OS and iOS interfaces." Guess what, it's not hard to find out who does that. Maybe one of your best friends happens to be Alan Dye, Apple VP of user interface design? Even if he happens to be one of your best friends, when you talk to him, he keeps his mouth shut simply because he's not supposed to leak what he does at his job. What a huge pile of garbage your comment is.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

apple card 1

Apple Ending Apple Card Partnership With Goldman Sachs

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:09 pm PST by
Apple is ending its credit card partnership with Goldman Sachs, according to The Wall Street Journal. Apple plans to stop working with Goldman Sachs in the next 12 to 15 months, and it is not yet clear if Apple has established a new partnership for the Apple Card. Apple and Goldman Sachs will dissolve their entire consumer partnership, including the Apple Card and the Apple Savings account....
ios 17 namedrop

Police Departments and News Sites Spreading Misinformation About How iOS 17 NameDrop Feature Works

Monday November 27, 2023 5:11 pm PST by
Apple with iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1 introduced a new NameDrop feature that is designed to allow users to place Apple devices near one another to quickly exchange contact information. Sharing contact information is done with explicit user permission, but some news organizations and police departments have been spreading misinformation about how functions. As noted by The Washington Post,...
Apple Logo

Apple Discontinued These 5 Products This Year

Monday November 27, 2023 7:03 am PST by
As the end of 2023 nears, now is a good opportunity to look back at some of the devices and accessories that Apple discontinued throughout the year. Apple products discontinued in 2023 include the iPhone 13 mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, MagSafe Battery Pack, MagSafe Duo Charger, and leather accessories. Also check out our lists of Apple products discontinued in 2022 and 2021. iPhone Mini ...
iOS 17

iOS 17.1.2 Update for iPhone Likely to Be Released This Week

Monday November 27, 2023 8:24 am PST by
Apple will likely release iOS 17.1.2 this week, based on mounting evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs in recent days. As a minor update, iOS 17.1.2 should be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues might be addressed. Some users have continued to experience Wi-Fi issues on iOS 17.1.1, so perhaps iOS 17.1.2 will include the same fix for Wi-Fi...
iOS 17

Everything New in iOS 17.2 Beta 4

Tuesday November 28, 2023 12:18 pm PST by
Apple is wrapping up development on iOS 17.2, with the update expected to come out in December. While we're getting to the end of the beta testing period, Apple is still tweaking features and adding new functionality. We've rounded up everything new in the fourth beta of iOS 17.2. Default Notification Sound Under Sounds & Haptics, there's a new "Default Alerts" section that allows you to ...
All New CarPlay Five New Features Article 2

What to Expect From All-New CarPlay, Still Listed as Coming 'Late 2023'

Tuesday November 28, 2023 7:44 am PST by
At WWDC in June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, increased personalization, and more. Apple's website still says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in "late 2023," but it has not shared...
Google Drive

Some Google Drive Users' Files Have Mysteriously Vanished

Tuesday November 28, 2023 3:55 am PST by
Google Drive users have been warned not to disconnect their account within the Google Drive for desktop app, after a spate of reports of files going missing from the cloud service. Alarm bells began ringing last week on Google's community support site when some users reported files mysteriously disappearing from Google Drive, with some posters claiming six or more months of data had...