Hinesville Police Defend Response After Viral Post Questions Handling of Possible Emergency Call
HINESVILLE, Ga., March 6, 2026 — The Hinesville Police Department said Friday that officers did respond to the area of a reported possible emergency after a social media post accused the agency of declining to act on the call.
According to police, the department became aware of a Facebook post from a social media news outlet alleging that officers refused to respond to a possible emergency. The claim was based on a 30 second clip of 911 dispatch audio, but the department said the recording did not include the full context of the incident.
An internal review found that additional information available to the shift supervisor at the time was not reflected in the audio clip being circulated online.
Police said dispatch broadcast information at about 12:33 p.m. regarding a complainant who reported receiving a text message indicating that someone may have been on fire at an unknown location. Based on the dispatch broadcast and information available in Computer Aided Dispatch at about 12:32 p.m., the shift supervisor determined the complainant was believed to be somewhere near 101 South Gause Street, but there was no confirmed location for any person actually in distress.
Because the only information available was that a text message had been received without a verifiable location, the supervisor initially interpreted the alert as possibly being a random or automated emergency notification. Police said the lack of a confirmed location also raised concerns about the risks tied to responding to vague emergency alerts, including the possibility of swatting or an ambush.
Authorities later determined the complainant was an Apple iPhone emergency call center employee relaying information received through that system.
Despite the uncertainty, police said that at about 12:36 p.m. the shift supervisor personally contacted the assigned beat officer and directed him to respond to the area of 101 South Gause Street to try to locate the complainant or anyone who may have needed help. Officers checked the area but did not find anyone in need of assistance.
The department also disputed a claim in the social media post that the radio traffic had been provided by Liberty County EMA. Police said that statement was inaccurate and said Liberty County EMA is not authorized to access, retain, maintain or distribute 911 radio transmissions.
In its statement, the department said the post failed to account for the operational and safety considerations involved in the supervisor’s decision making and criticized the outlet for publishing the allegation without first contacting police for verification.
The Hinesville Police Department said it remains committed to responding to calls for service while balancing public and officer safety.
