911 is a joke, indeed: according to a WTOP report, Verizon never informed Montgomery, Fairfax and Prince George’s Counties officials about technical issues which led to busy signals on its emergency hotlines at various points over the past few weeks. Verizon Vice President James McLaughlin told the Maryland Public Service Commission that the telecommunications company took an internal approach to fix the technical issues, thinking that they could fix it before anyone really noticed. Of course, since most counties usually have alternate hotlines that they can inform residents to use when 911 is out of service, that explanation doesn’t really hold a whole lot of water. The Federal Communications Commission is now reportedly looking into the issue. Hey, at least these jurisdictions had people on the other end to answer once callers could get through, unlike some cities we know.