https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • WHY ATTEND
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Registration Opens April 2019-Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Urgent Matters


Commentary

There are limits to cracking down on nuisance 911 calls

There are limits to cracking down on nuisance 911 calls

People who call 911 needlessly should face ramifications for wasting the time of PSAP personnel and first responders, but government entities should not have laws that effectively limit the number of times a citizen can call 911 with a legitimate emergency.
  • Written by
  • 1st October 2013

Anyone who has read this column over the past couple of years knows that I’m a staunch proponent of holding people accountable for making nuisance 911 calls. I’m not talking about accidental calls necessarily—the so-called “butt dials”—though I would suggest that if one has made more than a couple of these over the course of a few months, one should consider placing the phone somewhere other than one’s back pocket.

What I’m talking about are the calls that truly are a nuisance. But how does one define that? On the one hand, calls made to 911 when people don’t get the right sandwich at a fast-food restaurant are an obvious example. But what about a spate of seemingly legitimate 911 calls?

That’s the question a federal court soon will contemplate. According to an Associated Press article, the court will consider the legality of an ordinance crafted by a Philadelphia suburb that fines landlords when tenants make three emergency calls within a four-month period; the ordinance also requires the landlord to evict the tenant.

According to the AP, town officials claim that the ordinance is designed to “promote peaceful neighborhoods and discourage nuisance calls.”

The test case involves a woman who was involved in a domestic-abuse situation. The police reportedly were summoned to her home 10 times in the first five months of last year. The woman wasn’t evicted, but she since has moved to another location.

So, you might be asking yourself, why am I writing about this if the woman—described by the landlord as a “good tenant,” according to the AP—didn’t fall victim to this ordinance? Well, she did—she just wasn’t booted out of her domicile. Despite being severely injured after her boyfriend attacked her, she refused to call 911, apparently because she was aware that she would risk eviction. Eventually, a neighbor called—and the woman subsequently was airlifted to a hospital.

Think about that for a moment—a woman so severely injured that she required helicopter transport chose not to call 911 because she feared eviction.

The town revised the ordinance to grant exceptions for “true emergencies,” the AP reported.  It now also gives landlords the right to appeal when forced to evict a particular tenant. Interestingly, the evictee wasn’t granted a similar right.

Even if they had been given such a right and managed to avoid eviction as a result, the damage already has been done. I wonder how many people will die because they didn’t dial 911. It’s a chilling thought.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which is pursuing the case, has a problem with this law—and so do I. Any law that subverts a person’s instinct to seek emergency help should be stricken from the books. I’m all for peaceful neighborhoods and a reduction of 911 nuisance calls, but this ordinance requires a price that is too high to pay.   

Perhaps more chilling is that there are hundreds of communities in the U.S. that have similar laws on the books, reported the AP, citing the ACLU.

Every one of those communities needs to rethink this, right now. In the meantime, I hope that the ACLU prevails in this case. Determining whether a 911 call is a nuisance should be an exercise that is qualitative, not quantitative.

Tags: Legislation PSAP Commentary Dispatch/Call-taking Policy Public Safety Urgent Matters Commentary

Related


  • People who call 911 needlessly should face ramifications for wasting the time of PSAP personnel and first responders, but government entities should not have laws that effectively limit the number of times a citizen can call 911 with a legitimate emergency.
  • People who call 911 needlessly should face ramifications for wasting the time of PSAP personnel and first responders, but government entities should not have laws that effectively limit the number of times a citizen can call 911 with a legitimate emergency.
  • People who call 911 needlessly should face ramifications for wasting the time of PSAP personnel and first responders, but government entities should not have laws that effectively limit the number of times a citizen can call 911 with a legitimate emergency.
  • People who call 911 needlessly should face ramifications for wasting the time of PSAP personnel and first responders, but government entities should not have laws that effectively limit the number of times a citizen can call 911 with a legitimate emergency.

Related Content

  • New T-Band rules impact LMR licensing activity
  • Nokia, Lenovo shake hands on patent deal
  • Newscan: Single sign-in for government services expands to states, localities
  • ‘Life-saving technology’: AST SpaceMobile CEO outlines capabilities of direct-to-smartphone LEO satellite service

Commentary


Unlocking the power of ESInets: Different NG911 provisioning approaches exist; level of control is key differentiator

7th April 2021

Ransomware? Let’s call it what it really is: extortionware

21st February 2021

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

18th February 2021
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

RT @InformaTechHQ: Happy #WorldEarthDay! To mark the day our CEO Gary Nugent highlights the importance of technology and how it can be a dr…

22nd April 2021
UrgentComm

RT @Airgain: T-minus 14 days until our virtual panel with @UrgentComm. Listen to our panel of industry leaders as they share their firsthan…

22nd April 2021
UrgentComm

Driver and passenger monitoring brings zero cabin privacy dlvr.it/Ry9BSK

21st April 2021
UrgentComm

In this comprehensive report, @OmdiaHQ delivers a landscape and forecast for LTE and #5G technology serving the nee… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

21st April 2021
UrgentComm

Attackers compromised code-checking vendor’s tool for two months dlvr.it/Ry7c0F

21st April 2021
UrgentComm

Will the feds set our broadband Internet prices? dlvr.it/Ry7bx0

21st April 2021
UrgentComm

Newscan: Chinese hackers compromise dozens of government agencies, defense contractors dlvr.it/Ry7MYD

21st April 2021
UrgentComm

Florida secures radio-system revenue for five years, agencies await clarity on statewide LMR dlvr.it/Ry4Wb8

20th April 2021

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X