police news

Someone called police near Toronto because their mom changed their Xbox password

We've likely all seen one of those years-old viral videos of some kid or another having an absolute meltdown because a family member screwed with their video games —  but how many of them went as far as calling 911 about it?

The answer is, well, a few, including one teen from Oakville, Ontario, who called local law enforcement this week to report his mother for the unforgivable crime of changing the password of his Xbox console on him.

Halton police took to Twitter on Tuesday to share the incident as a reminder to all residents not to call emergency personnel unless absolutely necessary.

"Never thought we'd have to say this but here we are," they tweeted out yesterday afternoon. "Mom changing your Xbox password is NOT a reason to call 911. Yes, this happened."

The police force clarified to blogTO that the tweet was intended to be lighthearted, with the ultimate purpose of "highlighting that 911 should be reserved for legitimate emergencies."

The post has received quite the reaction, with many residents sharing their own hilarious stories of kids calling the cops over some pretty ridiculous things.

"I put my daughter (7-ish) in a timeout one day, at which point she dialed 911 & then hung up. So EVERYTHING rolled to my house," one user replied. "Hubby took her on an apology tour that evening, to firehall & police station."

Another shared their priceless experience: "13 years ago my son accidentally called 911 & said in three-year-old voice 'there’s no popcorn left.' When asked where his mom was, he said 'she's not here' (I was out but dad was home). Came home to the Halton Regional Police Service at my door. Glad you keep us safe."

Then there was the the young girl from Bradford who dialed 911 this past December because she was having a fight with her mother, who eventually helped her write an apology letter to authorities.

Though such childish exploits are indeed amusing, taking up police time and resources for non-emergencies is no joke, and can actually result in fines up to $5,000.

Lead photo by

@glenncarstenspeters


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software