What to Know
- Social media posts have been circulating falsely telling people about a 911 "pizza code"
- It says people can call 911 and order a "pepperoni pizza" if they do not want anyone within hearing range to know they're calling
- But police departments want the public to know there are no secret pizza codes for dispatchers to respond to during an emergency
A post going around social media is telling people there's a secret code way of telling a 911 operator you need help, but police departments want people to know the secret pizza code is not real.
The post says you're supposed to use the secret code and order a "pepperoni pizza" if someone is listening to your call and you're scared. However there are a lot of unsupported claims in the post.
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"It's mixed messages to people and that's the part that's a little scary," Idaho sheriff's dispatcher Roxanne Wade said. "Because they're feeling if they call 911 and they're ordering a pizza either somebody can do that as a joke or that's really happening."
Dispatchers are not trained in secret pizza information and there is no code, they said. Still, placing such a call could work.
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"I've never had somebody call me and ask to order a pizza. I can see the benefits where you're in a situation where you can't talk about what's going on because somebody may be in the room, somebody may be threatening you with bodily harm," police dispatcher Rebecca Justus said.
"At first I would ask the caller 'you realized you called 911? This is an emergency line' and if they continued along the line 'Well, I'd like extra cheese and pepperoni then I would assume something was going on."
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