BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FRANKLIN -- Residents of this northwest Warren County town are being bombarded with mysterious automated telephone calls, urging them to "call your local police."
In the past six days, about 700 to 800 calls have been received at homes in Franklin, and to a lesser extent in nearby Carlisle and Franklin Township, Franklin police said. The calls started Thursday and, so far, have involved homes with 743 and 746 exchanges.
Franklin police dispatchers have been overwhelmed with calls from puzzled residents. Residents who have received the automated calls reported receiving them in four ways:
If the resident is not home, an automated message is left, with a computer voice saying, "Call your local police."
If the resident answers the telephone, he or she will hear nothing for three or four seconds, then gets a message to "call your local police."
If a resident is engaged in a conversation on the telephone, the automated message interrupts with the "call your local police" message, then disconnects the original caller.
The automated message makes a collect call to the home.
"We have one dispatcher to handle all these calls on each shift," said one dispatcher. "It's to the point where every other call is in regard to this, and we are having a hard time answering our police calls."
The department is usually staffed with one dispatcher and three officers, who are usually on patrol.
The police department is attempting to solve the problem with Ameritech. Police urge residents to take this message with skepticism.
Police also advise residents who experience similar calls to contact Ameritech's residential repair at (800) 572-4545. A spokesman for Ameritech was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.
