Law enforcement, as one might imagine, is a field that sees its share of strangeness. We journalists know because we talk regularly with the police officers who have seen and heard everything.

But a story that ran in last Friday’s edition of The Clanton Advertiser takes the cake.

Apparently, a Michigan woman began calling the Chilton County emergency dispatch and jail, making false reports and even threats. What might have been taken as a harmless joke became a serious matter when the woman began calling hundreds of times a day.

Sheriff Kevin Davis said the calls would come in for eight hours or more on some days, tying up an important resource for the county.

Something had to be done, so Davis and his department worked with the FBI to develop a lead on the offender, track her to Michigan and eventually make an arrest.

We’re pleased to know the sheriff’s department was able to work with a federal agency to put an end to the harassment. While making phone calls certainly isn’t the same as a murder or a number of other crimes, it’s frightening to know our county’s emergency response could have been hindered.