I’m indebted to one of my readers, Greg Broiles, who called the following to my attention:

Apparently the new cell phones make a loud (very loud) alarm sound if 911 is dialed.  There’s a story about this about Verizon phones but it may cover other phones as well.  For more details about this you can visit a cell phone users discussion board.  Apparently, the cell phone companies are claiming that this alarm is required by the government.  I don’t know.

But I do know that this can be the biggest idiocy I’ve heard in quite a while.  What if there’s a home invasion?  Do you really want your cell phone to send out an alarm revealing exactly where you are hiding?  Of what if you are being forced into the trunk of your car?  There are many cases of the police tracking you by cell after being called on “911”.  The alarm just tells the bad guys you have a phone and begs them to throw it away.

There may be a way to deactivate this “feature” but I don’t know it.  If someone has it, please post it or tell me where it is and I’ll post it for you.  In the meantime, you should complain to the carrier and to the FCC about this absolute idiocy.