NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taxpayer dollars and valuable time that could be spent on real emergencies are being wasted on prank and false 911 calls, said officials.

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There is no shortage of real emergencies every day in Nashville but among all the true emergency calls crews respond to, officers have been busy lately checking out too many that are made up.

"Bomb threats, robberies in progress; a child says they are being held hostage," said Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Amanda Sluss.

Representatives from Metro's 911 center said they have recently seen an increase in false calls.

On Monday, a man claimed to have seen someone jump in the river and called back later to say he'd recovered the body himself. Police boats, firefighters, EMA and EMS workers arrived and spent four hours on a call that turned out to be bogus.

What makes the false calls worse is that many of them are coming in overnight when police manpower is already at a premium.

"You've heard of joyriding, it’s a joy call to 911. What they don’t understand is that the call takers at 911 take these calls very seriously, the police department takes them very seriously," said Metro police spokesman Don Aaron.

Part of the problem includes hang ups and people who just want to chat or are mentally unstable. But authorities said they are most concerned with people knowingly faking emergencies often times using a disconnected cell phone, which makes the call untraceable.

"If we can prove a person is deliberately calling 911 to make a false call, the police department can take action and charges can be brought," Aaron said.

Officers said they will always respond to all complaints but with an already short staff, they can't afford to waste time and keep those with real emergencies waiting.

Metro police said people caught making fake or prank calls are charged with making a false report. Penalties can be stiffer for fake bomb threats.