All in West Yorkshire Please Read

[GetAGrip]

This has nothing to do with cycling but you never know, one of you guys may be able to help. Request for information by the emergency services. The more people who know some info. the higher the chance of finding this toddler and her Mum.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jul/31/999-call-girl-yorkshire-police?newsfeed=true

 

[ColinJ]

I read that on the news earlier. I hope that this has a happy ending, but if it is a genuine call then it really doesn't sound hopeful for the mother.

I'm absolutely amazed that the telecoms industry can't trace such a call these days. There must be a log somewhere of all the connections made to route that call through to the police. I'd have thought that they could locate the phone to within a triangle of the 3 nearest mobile phone masts and then just send out scores of officers and knock on every door in that area.

 

[oldfatfool]

How many streets in the Leeds area can end in Court and have a number 23, that Detectives can't check the electrol roll and send someone round to knock?

 

[ColinJ]

In fact ... Assuming that the phone battery hasn't gone flat and the child hasn't switched it off, it will constantly be communicating with the nearest phone masts. There must be a mechanism for asking the phone companies which masts are picking up signals from that phone.

I do not believe that the authorities could not trace the call if they went about it properly. If a terrorist group phoned a bomb warning through, how long do you think it would take to locate the phone used if it were left switched on?

 

[ColinJ]

Okay ... panic over. The police have traced the call, a hoax by two 10 year olds in Birmingham!

 

[GetAGrip]

That is such a relief.
Having said that, I hope the girls get slightly more than their pocket money stopped for a week!!!

 

[ComedyPilot]

Puzzled how 2 girls in Bridlington can call 999 and get put through to West Yorks?. Landlines automatically go to the nearest 999 operator, and as ColinJ alluded, a mobile does that automatically from the nearest mast...?

Edit: Unless they were in West Yorks.....

 

[ColinJ]

Did I misread Birmingham for Bridlington, or did the Yorkshire Evening Post edit their article after I linked to it?

I thought it was a bit odd that a child phoning from Brum had a Yorkshire accent!

 

[ComedyPilot]

Did I misread Birmingham for Bridlington, or did the Yorkshire Evening Post edit their article after I linked to it?

I thought it was a bit odd that a child phoning from Brum had a Yorkshire accent!

Dunno, but given the Tom Daley twitter incident, and now a massive search, all sparked by complete idiots, you have to wonder if the lunatics are taking over te asylum?

 

[ColinJ]

It isn't a modern phenomenon though, is it? Only the technology changes. People used to make obscene and threatening phone calls, or write nasty anonymous letters. Now they just do that kind of thing via Twitter, Facebook or SMS.