Robert Sinicropi,18, attained the rank of Eagle Scout after launching a 911 information campaign.
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Robert Sinicropi, 18, of North Brunswick recently became an Eagle Scout after completing a project with the township police to inform residents about misuse of the 911 emergency phone service.
"I wanted to make the public aware of the dangers behind 911 hang-ups and false burglar and fire alarms in homes and offices," Sinicropi said. "When someone hangs up, the police must respond. When a burglar or fire alarm is activated, the police and the fire company must respond.
"False alarms and 911 hang-up calls take up 40 percent of the North Brunswick Police Department’s time," Sinicropi said. "They put emergency service workers at risk. A police officer was killed in an accident many years ago because he was responding to a false burglar alarm."
The statistics for how many calls to the emergency phone service are actual emergencies are very limited, according to Sinicropi.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PHIL SINICROPI Fliers educating residents about the dangers of false fire and burglar alarms and 911 hang-up calls were distributed in residents’ mailboxes.
"In 2000, the North Brunswick Police Department responded to 1,814 911 calls and only 165 of them were valid," Sinicropi said. "The combined North Brunswick volunteer fire companies responded to 634 fire alarms, but only 376 were actual confirmed fire calls. The police also responded to 3,250 burglar alarms and only 146 were valid."
It was Sinicropi’s main goal to make township residents realize the problems of not using the service properly.
"This project will make the public aware of the dangers involved with false alarms," Sinicropi said. "The goals of my project would be to reduce the number of 911 hang-ups and false burglar and fire alarms.
"By educating the public on the dangers of 911 hang-ups and false burglar and fire alarms, we can reduce the number of incidents when emergency service workers are responding to false alarms, and reduce the risk of injury to our emergency service workers," Sinicropi said. "The police and fire departments can also become more efficient by focusing on scheduled activities without wasting money and time."
He helped distribute fliers in town to make residents aware of dangers of emergency phone call hang-ups.
"In order to educate the public on the hazards of 911 hang-ups and false burglar and fire alarms, Boy Scouts from Troop 90 and some of my friends produced a flier that describes the hazards of false alarms and how the public can reduce the number of 911 hang-ups and false burglar and fire alarms," Sinicropi said.
Sinicropi said that the operation was a group effort.
"I had a meeting with everyone where I educated the Scouts about the hazards of false alarms and 911 hang-ups," he said. "We discussed the details of the project. I led the group in producing the flier. The fliers were printed on both sides with one side showing the dangers of a hang-up and recommen-dations on how to avoid a false 911 call. The other side showed the dangers of false burglar and fire alarms, along with recommendations on how to avoid sending a false alarm.
"The fliers were distributed through all North Brunswick schools and handed out at Wal-Mart, A&P and Pathmark," Sinicropi said. "The Scouts and my friends who came to the meeting spoke to residents about the dangers of false alarms while they handed out a copy of the flier."
The rank of Eagle Scout is the highest advancement in Scouting, according to the Boy Scouts of America. In order to achieve this rank, the Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service and outdoor skills.