The Municipal District of Taber is fed up with accidental 911 calls.

It receives about 45 "pocket dial" calls a month.

Reeve Brian Brewin says police have to respond to those calls in person, which is a waste of valuable time.

He says the problem is that some phones automatically dial 911 if the number nine is held down.

That can happen by accident when a phone is in a pocket or purse.

Brewin says the district is drafting a resolution to ask Ottawa to step in.

“What we're asking for is to get away from single dial touching and make it a two touch process so basically you would have to push two numbers and then send before you would get the emergency number," says Brewin.

The federal department of industry would have to pass an order that would target phone manufacturers.

In Lethbridge, it's estimated one in five emergency calls are accidental, while in Calgary it's about 23 per cent of the calls to 911.