911 in Missouri - A State of Emergency

Erie County executive wants Missouri 911 director for public safety post

2010-08-23T13:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100823/NEWS02/308239926

Erie County executive wants Missouri 911 director for public safety post

Erie County Executive Barry Grossman thinks he has found county government's new public safety director.

Grossman has offered the job to Todd R. Geers, 46, a U.S. Navy veteran and the current director of the 16-employee Webster County 911 Center in Marshfield, Mo.

Geers previously worked as operations manager at a 100-plus employee 911 center in Everett, Wash., between 2007 and 2009.

Grossman told the Times-News that Geers has "verbally committed" to the Erie County job. He called Geers the best and most experienced candidate among the more than 70 people who applied for the Erie County post.

Grossman said he hopes that Geers can start working in his administration by mid-September. Geers could not be reached for comment.

Grossman is replacing interim director Harry Love at the Department of Public Safety. The job currently pays an annual salary of $76,169.

A seven-person merit selection committee created by Grossman was charged with vetting candidates for the post. That group began meeting in June.

Both the merit selection committee, and Grossman, conducted separate interviews with Geers.

Turn to Tuesday's Erie Times-News and return to GoErie.com for more coverage.

-- Kevin Flowers

New fee on phone cards to help fund 911 system

2010-08-02T11:30:00.001-05:00

The Denver Post

POSTED: 06/23/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT

The Research In Motion Ltd. BlackBerry Tour 9630 is displayed for a photograph in an undated company handout photograph released to the media on Tuesday, June 16, 2009. The Tour 9630, which uses so-called 3G technology, will be sold in the U.S. through Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp., RIM co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie said in a phone interview yesterday. Source: Research In Motion Ltd. via Bloomberg News EDITOR'S NOTE: NO SALES. EDITORIAL USE ONLY (RESEARCH IN MOTION | )

Effective Jan. 1, Colorado will impose a 1.4 percent charge on prepaid phone cards and wireless services to help fund the state's 911 system. The fee was authorized under Senate Bill 120, which Gov. Bill Ritter signed this month. Previously, the state collected a 911 charge only on land lines and postpaid cellphones, or wireless services with contracts. Those funds amount to about $6 million a year. Colorado will be the seventh state to implement a 911 charge on prepaid phone services, according to AT&T, which supported the legislation.

The additional funding could help advance new technologies for emergency-response services, such as the ability for 911 centers to accept text messages and photos.

"This is a big win for our state and will help ensure emergency communications systems continue to serve Coloradans," AT&T state president Bill Soards said. Andy Vuong, The Denver Post

Illinois: False 911 calls now a felony

2010-08-02T11:29:00.001-05:00

July 27, 2010, 10:27 am

Comment on this story | Print this story | Email this story
By Robert Themer
rthemer@daily-journal.com
815-937-3369

Making a false 911 call is now a felony under an Illinois law sponsored by state Rep. Lisa Dugan, D-Bradley, and signed Monday by Gov. Pat Quinn.

Dugan introduced House Bill 6101 in response to the bogus emergency telephone call that led to a car crash that left Kankakee County Deputy Sheriff Dave Stukenborg severely paralyzed.

Stukenborg and his family joined Dugan, Quinn and others at the bill signing Monday at the Rehab Institute of Chicago.

Learn more about this story by subscribing to The Daily Journal's print edition or E-edition.

LISTEN: 911 Traffic From Bellevue Horse Stampede

2010-07-06T13:47:00.001-05:00

Consolidation could lead to delays

2010-07-05T14:12:00.001-05:00

FRANKLIN COUNTY

June 29

Future of emergency dispatch unclear

Critics say consolidation of 9-1-1 call centers could lead to delays in services, response times

By Leslie Bridgers
Staff writer

FARMINGTON — Emergency calls in Franklin County soon could be answered by dispatchers as far away as Bangor.

County officials hope a plea to the Public Utilities Commission will prevent that from happening.

State legislators have directed the commission to consolidate the number of communications centers that directly handle 911 calls. With one of the lowest call volumes in the state, the Franklin County public-safety answering point is at risk of getting cut.

Officials met in a Franklin County District Court room Monday morning to consider how to make sure the communications center stays.

“It’s about lives. It’s not about money,” said state Rep. Thomas Saviello, R-Wilton.

If the Franklin public-safety answering point is eliminated, the county wouldn’t lose its dispatchers altogether, but emergency calls first would be answered at another center, then transferred to the county dispatch.

Now, when a 911 call comes into the communications center, information about the caller’s location immediately appears on monitors in front of the dispatchers.

Not having access to that information is one of the things officials said upsets them most about losing the service.

“If they want to explain to someone in Augusta where they are in Freeman Township, forget it. Might as well dig a hole right there,” Saviello said at the meeting.

The additional time it takes to transfer a call was another of their concerns.

“In a lot of cases, a few minutes makes a big difference,” said Rangeley Fire Chief Rudy Davis.

Stan Wheeler, a dispatcher at the Franklin County center, described a recent situation in which his ability to track a caller’s location was crucial to the rescue.

A woman and her daughter had gotten lost while riding an ATV in Chesterville. By talking to her while she was on her cell phone, Wheeler said, he could watch her movement on the monitor. She had been walking the wrong way to get to safety, and he was able to point her in the right direction.

Clyde Ross, chairman of the Franklin County Regional Radio Committee, explained after the meeting that, by losing designation as a public-safety answering point, the center loses the mapping equipment. That’s how the state could save money through the consolidation effort.

Ross said the state’s communication equipment needs to be updated soon, and, with fewer answering points, there would be less equipment to replace.

Though the state might realize savings through consolidation, Ross said, costs would increase for county taxpayers. The county would still have to pay for its dispatchers, and, in addition, would have to pay a per-capita fee to whichever answering point is handling the emergency calls.

“If anyone thinks this is going to save us money, it isn’t,” said Melinda Caton, the county’s dispatch supervisor.

Last year, Franklin County handled about 9,000 emergency calls, which is the fifth-lowest call volume of the state’s 26 public-safety answering points. Legislators have asked the commission to eliminate about 10 of those call centers.

“All they are about is numbers,” said Wilton Police Chief Dennis Brown. “We’re going to lose that argument.”

Brown said, in expressing their concern to the commission, people need to show evidence, aside from call volume, of how the center is critical to the public safety of county residents.

Franklin County Sheriff Dennis Pike said, while the number of emergency calls might be among the state’s lowest, the area from which the calls are received is one of the largest.

“You’re looking at 40 square miles versus 1,600 square miles,” Pike said about the difference between coverage of communications centers in Cumberland County and the one in Franklin.

“We have a lot more people lost in Franklin County than in the city of Portland,” he said.

Rangeley Town Manager Perry Ellsworth urged people at the meeting to talk to residents about the potential loss the county is facing and tell them to write to the commission about their concerns.

“You might find stories where dispatch saved their life,” Ellsworth said. “If you start telling those stories, it has an impact, probably more than the town manager writing a letter.”

The Public Utilities Commission is accepting feedback about the consolidation plan through July 12. The commission is scheduled to present a finalized plan to the Legislature in November.

Leslie Bridgers — 861-9252
lbridgers@centralmaine.com

MAINE PUC seeking input on consolidating 911 centers

2010-07-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

FARMINGTON — The state is seeking public comment on a plan that will winnow down the number of emergency communication centers from 26 to about 17, with the stated goal of providing better response at a lower cost.

However, some local public safety officials say consolidation of Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs, that would reroute 911 calls to large, regional communications centers could increase response time, affect service and cost more.

The Public Utilities Commission and the Emergency Services Communications Bureau have set a July 12 deadline for this round of comments that will be included in a report that will go to the Legislature's Utilities and Energy Committee by Nov. 1. The Legislature is expected to take up the issue during its next session.

In a recent study commissioned by the PUC, L. R. Kimball Associates, a firm specializing in emergency-911 design and public safety consolidation, found the optimum PSAP configuration in Maine would be 15 to 17 full-service, regionally-located centers.

The ramifications of reducing the number of PSAPS, especially in large, geographically-diverse, remote and rural areas, has some officials worried.

“My biggest concern is for the safety of the people in Oxford County,” said James Miclon, director of the Oxford County Communications Center.

The Paris-based operation is one of the busiest county PSAPs in Maine and handles about 60, 911-calls a day, he said.

“If some other location answers our calls and then transfers them to us to dispatch fire, law enforcement or EMS (emergency medical services), we will lose valuable time in getting first responders out as quickly as possible and with the correct information,” he said.

“I would encourage individuals and officials to submit comments and answer whatever questions they can,” he said.

Franklin County Chief Deputy Raymond Meldrum agreed.

“It would be very detrimental to the people of Franklin County if we did not have a PSAP here,” he said.

“Our people are far better able to provide for the needs of this region. We have an efficient and well-trained staff that is familiar with this area,” he said.

He also predicted there would be no cost savings to the people of Franklin County if the PSAP was eliminated.

“We would still need a call center to dispatch fire, police and ambulance from here but we wouldn't have the mapping, callback numbers, and the information screens we have now,” he said. “There would be a time delay in response.”

Under the current system, PSAP dispatchers at the 26 centers across the state take 911 calls, gather basic information and then either reroute the caller to a local public safety agency to dispatch rescue services or directly send out needed personnel as they do in Oxford and Franklin counties now.

Last week, the PUC opened its public inquiry period and asked local and county officials with a stake in the emergency dispatch system to answer 18 detailed questions.

The responses will become part of the case file and will be used to help the agency develop a consolidation plan, according to a press release.

Among the questions are ideas on developing PSAP selection criteria; incentives to encourage voluntary PSAP consolidation; ways to curb PSAP “rate shopping”; and suggestions on addressing the fragmented dispatch and PSAP services.

While the questions seek in-depth responses from those in the field, PUC spokeswoman Evelyn deFrees said anyone with an interest in how emergency services are provided in their community is invited to submit a comment.

“The commission considers all the material filed in a case. We need to be specific in what we ask because we were directed by the Legislature to come up with a plan with a deadline attached to it, but we are a public agency and this is a public process. Our rules are to invite comments from those who are interested,” she said.

According to the PUC, in 2009, Franklin County's PSAP received 9,110 emergency calls; Oxford County's center received 19,309 calls; and the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office PSAP received 8,569.

Also, the Lewiston/Auburn Emergency Communications System had 31,479 calls and the multi-county Somerset County Regional Communications Center in Skowhegan received 25,256.

The Kimball report found that a reduction in PSAPs may result in cost-savings to the state's Emergency 911 system and to the communities that consolidate PSAP and dispatch services into regional, full-service communications centers.

However, it stated the primary motivation for consolidation is improvement in service, better response time and fewer chances for human or technology errors.

“Quicker call processing and dispatch times results in faster, on-scene times for field personnel,” according to the report.

The complete notice of inquiry document, the Kimball report, and all filed comments may be found at www.maine.gov/mpuc.

http://www.sunjournal.com/state/story/869019

Share This With EVERYONE you LOVE

2010-02-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

MICHIGAN VOTERS PASS a $3.00 PER DEVICE 911 SURCHARGE

2009-02-27T14:15:00.001-06:00

911 surcharge passes

By Thomas Marcetti, Staff Writer

Hillsdale Daily News

Posted Feb 26, 2009 @ 08:58 PM

Hillsdale, Mich. —

Hillsdale County residents approved a ballot issue Tuesday to reset the 911 phone surcharge.

“I’m very pleased with the voter’s support,” 911 Director Doug Sanford said.

The proposal, which passed 2,282 yes to 1,408 no, allows the county board of commissioners to reset the surcharge to a maximum of $3 per month per device, but the board said it will only levy $2.25.

Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast said the numbers are unofficial until the canvassing committee meets. However she said given the size of the margin she does not think it is possible a sizable enough discrepancy exists to change the outcome.

Missouri County 911 Struggles for Funding

2009-02-27T14:12:00.001-06:00

911 struggles for funding

Friday, February 27, 2009
George Anderson

The budget for the Dunklin County 911 Service has dropped nearly 50 percent in the last four years, making it more difficult for the local center to operate.

According to Dunklin County 911 Director Richard LaMunion, approximately four years ago, the local service was operating on an estimated $250,000 budget. This year, LaMunion says the budget is around $120,000. LaMunion said the reason for the decline is that many residents are dropping their land lines in favor of more convenient mobile phones.

"In the last six month, we haven't addressed any home phones," LaMunion said. " It has been all cell phones."

LaMunion went on to say that the lower budget is making it tougher to operate each year.

"[The funding] is just not coming in," LaMunion said.

About 76 percent of calls received each year by the local service are from cell phones, according to the director.

The 911 service is mostly funded by fees taxed on to land lines. As residents drop their land lines for mobile devices, funds are taken away from the service. Mobile phones are considered to be radio devices and are not currently subject to the 911 charge.

However, local government agencies are presently lobbying for legislation that would allow a 911 fee on mobile phones to compensate for the lost funds. Sen. John Griesheimer, of Washington, Mo., is sponsoring the legislation.

The proposed bill, SB 119, states that the commissioner of the office of administration is authorized to establish a fee, if approved by the voters pursuant to section 190.440, not to exceed fifty cents per wireless telephone number per month to be collected by wireless service providers from wireless service customers.

According to the bill, the office of administration will be authorized to administer the funds and distribute the money collected by the wireless provider for approved expenditures, including:

* Reimbursement of actual expenses for implementing enhanced 911 services by wireless providers;

* Subsidizing and assisting public safety answering points based on a formula established by the administration and the director of the department of public safety;

* Reimbursement of expenses for equipment for implementing an enhanced 911 service by public safety points to the extent that funds are available.

Also under the bill, wireless service providers are entitled to retain one percent of the surcharge they collect for administrative costs associated with billing and collection.

Voters have rejected a 911 fee on mobile lines two times before.

Another option being presented by Sen. Jason Crowell, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., is consolidation.

According to Crowell, the state could efficiently operate with only five 911 centers in entire state. Missouri currently has 174 centers.

Arguments against Crowell's option claim that while 174 centers may be too many, five may be too few.

LaMunion said the local 911 centers will meet on Monday at Dexter, Mo., to discuss options.

"Right now, we have enough money," LaMunion said. "But it's getting tougher."

In related news, The Medic One Ambulance Service and the Dunklin County Ambulance Board would like to remind citizens within Dunklin County that if a 911 call is made from a mobile phone, the caller should be sure to indicate the city in which they are requesting services.

It appears that in the majority of cases involving a 911 call from a mobile phone, the calls are directed to the area from which the services are purchased and not necessarily to the 911 office within the area the resident is making the call.

Wireless companies are aware of the issue and are working to resolve it. Until there is a resolution, residents are asked to include the city from which they are requesting services, along with the appropriate street address and phone number.

With the address and phone number provided, the emergency responders should be able to respond in a more timely manner.

For a complete copy of the proposed bill, click HERE.

If Franklin and other counties want to see any funding from a possible statewide tax, they will have to consolidate

2009-02-23T14:06:00.001-06:00

02/13/2009

State Senator Speaks About 911 Funding, Consolidation Options

By Evin Fritschle , Missourian Staff Writer

If Franklin and other counties want to see any funding from a possible statewide tax, they will have to consolidate, state Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, said.

Meanwhile some counties, such as St. Louis County, large enough to balance their own emergency 911 budgets, could continue to operate all their public safety answering points, or PSAPs, and would therefore not receive state funding, he said.

"If counties do or do not want the funds, they have to decide what they want to do. If they want to continue like they are, that's fine," Griesheimer told The Missourian in a telephone interview Thursday evening. "But then don't complain about not getting funding."

Griesheimer said he felt the recommendations of fellow state Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, were "unrealistic."

Crowell proposed a total of five PSAPs in the entire state and has said he would fight any E911 funding until major consolidation occurs.

"He is highly unreasonable in his request," Griesheimer said. "I feel like he was trying to be the 'bad cop' and throw out a number that would shock everybody."

Crowell's comments seem to have shocked Franklin County emergency management directors, city leaders and county officials.

A group of them met Tuesday morning, speaking out against Crowell's plan.

Griesheimer said he supported consolidation, though not to the same extreme.

"St. Louis County is going to need more than one (PSAP), so I think Crowell's idea is unrealistic and unworkable. However, some of these other smaller counties that have two, three or four (PSAPs), that's also unrealistic," he said.

Crowell said last week he would force counties to consolidate.

Griesheimer said counties could chose not to consolidate and simply wouldn't receive state funding.

Both the state Senate and House agreed that no funding would come about until consolidation occurs.

Griesheimer read a statement from the Senate and state Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, read a similar opinion from the House at a Feb. 5 meeting of county officials from throughout the state.

Griesheimer is sponsoring a bill which would place a 25-cent surcharge on monthly cell phone bills.
The surcharge would be used to fund 911 systems throughout the state.

Currently, emergency 911 systems are funded by a tax on landline phones, the rate of which varies by county.
In Franklin County, the tax rate is 10 percent. In St. Louis County, it is 1 percent.

Regardless of the percentage of the tax, the system has been called both unfair and inadequate by county officials.

Between 70 and 80 percent of the county's, and the state's, 911 calls come from cell phones. At the same time, more people have only a cell phone and no landline phone in their homes, meaning they do not pay anything for 911 service.

These issues are why Griesheimer, Crowell and other members of the state Legislature are considering a new funding mechanism.

In years past, voters have turned down a 50-cent cell phone 911 tax. Griesheimer hopes the consolidation combined with the lower fee will help.

"One way or another, we're going to force (consolidation) by legislation or (counties) are just not going to get the money," Griesheimer said.

"If you want to be on your own, fine, you can have your dispatching centers and all that, but don't complain if you're not getting state funding, it's not going to happen. There just isn't enough state funding to go around," he said.

The current bill, Senate Bill 119, would require counties who want to receive funding to consolidate to certain levels.

First- and second- class counties could have two PSAPs. Third- and fourth- class counties could only have one. Charter counties could have three.

Franklin County is a first-class county, meaning it would have to close two of its existing four PSAPs.

If county voters decide to accept a home-rule constitution which will be on the ballot in April, it would be allowed to have three.

Griesheimer said various state departments and offices, including the department of health and senior services and the office of public safety, all are interested in seeing a resolution to the problem.

"I don't know what the answer is, but I think it is going to take two years to work through this, to come up with a plan and submit it to a vote of the people," he said.

Griesheimer said he hopes to see the problem resolved before the end of his second term in 2010.

county is frustrated by an ultimatum from one state senator calling for consolidation of public safety answering points

2009-02-23T14:03:00.000-06:00

Presiding Commissioner Ed Hillhouse said Tuesday the county is frustrated by an ultimatum from one state senator calling for consolidation of public safety answering points, or PSAPs.

State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said last week the state should consolidate its 174 911 call centers into five regional call centers with one in each quadrant of the state and one in the center.

Franklin County has PSAPs in Washington, Union, Sullivan and Pacific.

The PSAP issue previously was unrelated to emergency 911 funding, which has been a lively topic for several years, but was brought up by Crowell at a Senate meeting Feb. 5.

County commissioners from throughout the state were in Jefferson City last week for an annual meeting and to voice concerns over a lack of E-911 and prison funding.

The county commission and the Missouri Association of Counties both support a form of cell phone E-911 surcharge.

Currently, 911 systems throughout the state are funded by a tax which is only placed on landline phones.

Yet 70-80 percent of 911 calls come from cell phones, which are not taxed because, in Missouri, they are classified as radio devices.

Missouri is the only state without a 911 cell phone tax.
Last year Franklin County began upgrading its 911 services to offer state-of-the-art technology to residents and those passing through the county, Hillhouse said.

If a major consolidation like the one Crowell proposed were to take place, the county would have to eat its investment of over $1 million.

"The message (the state) is sending is don't step up and act in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people," Hillhouse said.

"Someone is just going to come along with a better idea anyway and they'll say you rushed things. But I don't regret it one bit," he said.

"We waited and waited for someone to step up to the plate and eventually we did it ourselves," Hillhouse said.
"I'm not standing here saying that what they're saying is without merit, but we've done our job in recognizing there was an issue."

It wasn't the idea of consolidation but Crowell's wording which perturbed Hillhouse and associate commissioners Ann Schroeder and Terry Wilson most, he said.

"You're never, ever going to get the money until you consolidate," Crowell was quoted talking about 911 funding to Cape Girardeau County officials last week in the Southeast Missourian.

"I'll force you (to consolidate). I'll starve you down to it, if you're not going to do it of your own free will," he said.

The state Legislature, in less harsh terms, agreed.
State Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, opened a Senate meeting last Thursday, Feb. 5, with remarks representing the Senate as a whole.

The Senate has stated that no legislation for 911 funding will be passed until there is a reduction in PSAPs.

State Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, said the House was in agreement with the Senate.

Crowell said at the Feb. 5 meeting that he would fight any bill in the Senate "until hell freezes over and then he will stomp on the ice," according to the meeting's minutes.
He also stated that all funding will stop until there is a reduction in PSAPs in the state.

Taxes Vary by County

"They're deflecting the issue. The Senate and the House have no money in this. It's not their concern," Schroeder said.

The taxes are collected by each county. In Franklin County, the rate is 10 percent. Neighboring St. Louis County's rate is 1 percent.

Some counties in the state charge as much as 15 percent.
State senators have assigned R.D. Porter, the state's 911 coordinator, to organize a plan to reduce the number of PSAPs.

Bob Dopp, Franklin County's emergency management director, will provide a report to Porter, he said.

While consolidation might be needed, the extent to which Crowell has proposed seemed extreme to many of the county's emergency management agency directors who met with the commission and Dopp Tuesday morning.

"Where are they coming from with their concern of the number of call centers?" asked Russell Rost, Union city administrator.

"They're just wanting to say they are against taxes," he said.

Question Crowell

Several of the officials questioned Crowell's motives.

"What sometimes happens is you get a new guy who thinks his idea is so new and great that he won't let it go. No one can convince him that the wheel has already been invented," Rost said.

"Someone should look at his campaign contributions," County Counselor Mark Vincent said.

According to campaign disclosure forms, filed with the state's ethics commission, Crowell received several thousand dollars from various cellular and telecommunications companies for his 2008 Senate bid.

The following is a list of sources of companies and political action committees in related fields who contributed to Crowell's campaign, the amount they donated and the date it was received:

CenturyTel Partners for Missouri; $550 and $650, Oct. 22, 2007, and Oct. 30, 2008, respectively;

JCS Tel-Link, $350, Nov. 7, 2007;

Comcast Cable Communications, $675, April 16, 2008;

Boycom Cablevision Inc., $1,000, Aug. 29, 2008;

NewWave Communications, $400, Aug. 18, 2008;

Missouri Cable PAC, $700, Sept. 18, 2008;

Rural Telecommunications Committee, $1,000; Sept. 29, 2008; and

AT&T Missouri Employees PAC, $750, Oct. 9, 2008.

A Potential Fix

Griesheimer has introduced Senate Bill 119 which would add a 25-cent per month fee to all Missouri cell phone customers, or $6 per year.

The money would be used for enhanced 911 services.

In years past, other proposed surcharges have been voted down including a 50-cent one, Dopp said.

"People don't seem to be asking why those bills failed. It was because of the things tacked onto them. One had a provision about concealed firearms which was poorly written," he said.

The bill would provide a limit to the PSAPs receiving funding, however.

First- and second- class counties could receive funding for two PSAPs. Third- and fourth- class counties, could only receive funding for one.

Charter counties could receive funding for three.

"I don't get the economic objections, it's as close to a true user fee as you can get," Rost said.

"The game plan from the state has totally changed. Did we miss something? Is Sen. Crowell right?" Hillhouse asked.

"Is that the way we need to operate? Because you can play that game until the cows come home," he said.

Hillhouse said that, in the spirit of consolidation, the number of state Senate seats could be reduced from 34 to 17 and the House could be reduced to around 50 and still provide efficient, effective government.

"That too would be to scale with the economy," he said.

"Let's say Sen. Crowell has his way and the state says Washington, shut it down, Pacific, shut it down, Sullivan, shut it down, the county, shut it down," Hillhouse said. "How many jobs will that cost our county, at a time when jobs are precious and our county's unemployment rate is above the rest of the state?

What he is proposing is unmentionable and he should be brought to task for it."

Dopp, who attended the Feb. 5 Senate meeting, said Crowell argued that if a fast-food restaurant can streamline its processes, the state's 911 systems should be able to as well.

Crowell said at the meeting he was prepared to introduce legislation turning dispatching over to the state's nine Highway Patrol Troop headquarters.

The patrol would be overwhelmed, Dopp said.

Sharing a Message

"St. Louis County has 23 PSAPs and 90 municipalities. With the money that St. Louis County has, they can tell the state to go pound sand," he said.

In comparison, northern and southern parts of the state have one call center for three to four counties, Dopp said.

"Like Commissioner Schroeder said, they don't have any money in it now, so asking us to consolidate would be an unfunded mandate," Washington Mayor Dick Stratman said.

"This is another case of death by 1,000 cuts," he said.

Schroeder said the commission would like the emergency management directors to implore their respective municipalities to support Griesheimer's bill.

Meanwhile on the state level, "the Missouri Association of Counties has taken this on. Now we need to get the sheriff's association and all the associations that the various fire and ambulance districts belong to to help make our case known en mass," Schroeder said.

Ken Hahn, Washington police chief, agreed.

"Since this is statewide, we need to go through our state organizations and have a plan for this," he said.

"It sounds like the effort is finally gaining steam and this is an effort to throw a wrench into that," Hahn said.

©Washington Missouri 2009

Missouri lawmakers ponder how to pay for wireless 911

2009-02-23T14:01:00.000-06:00


Missouri lawmakers ponder how to pay for wireless 911

Published: 2/23/2009 \| Updated: 2/23/2009 By ANN PIERCEALL Herald-Whig Staff Writer Wireless 911 service, something many take for granted, is a luxury most Missourians don't enjoy. About 75 percent of the state, including a portion of Northeast Missouri, does not have the technology to pinpoint a wireless 911 call. Missouri is the only state without a funding mechanism to provide for wireless 911 emergency service statewide. A 2006 study determined it would take about $40 million, or a 75-cent monthly fee on phone bills, to upgrade the state's wireless 911 emergency service. State Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, is proposing in Senate Bill 119 a monthly fee of at least 25 cents on cell phones to go to fund wireless 911 emergency service statewide. Griesheimer said state Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City, plans to offer a companion bill in the House. Both want voter approval of any fee. But Republican Sen. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau has promised to halt any 911 funding legislation that does include plans to consolidate the state's 911 answering points. There now are 167 primary 911 "answering points" for Missouri's 114 counties. An answering point is where an initial 911 call goes before it is forwarded to emergency responders. "You're never, ever going to get the money until you consolidate," Crowell told Cape Girardeau County officials at a recent meeting. He prefers five call centers -- one each in four quadrants and one in the center of the state. Most 911 answering point directors and emergency officials do not oppose consolidation, but they say five calls centers to handle the entire state is not feasible. Lewis County 911 Director Gretchen Keith said a consolidation of two or three counties is doable. She described a scenario in which a 911 call from Shelby County is answered in Jefferson City. "But the consolidation Sen. Crowell was talking I don't see that as feasible," Keith said. "You run into issues where somebody (answering the 911 call) seven counties away from where you're making the call is not going be as familiar with what local people call landmarks as someone who is maybe two counties away." Marion County 911 Director Mike Hall sees calls from more rural areas competing with calls from urban areas for priority in sending emergency responders if the number of answering points is reduced. "I don't think there's a 911 director that doesn't agree there are areas where consolidation makes good sense," Hall said. "(But) I truly believe if any Missourian dies or is injured because emergency services can't find them in time ... Sen. Crowell and any legislator that opposes this should be held accountable." Four Northeast Missouri counties have no 911 service -- Knox, Scotland, Schuyler and Clark. Lewis, Shelby, Monroe and Ralls counties have some capacity to locate wireless 911 callers. Marion County can receive wireless 911 calls, but cannot locate a caller. Statewide 911 coordinator R.D. Porter said most Missouri residents don't realize they don't have wireless 911 emergency service statewide. He said many rural communities can't afford to fund a 911 answering point center, and many of those that provide the service can't afford expensive upgrades. Many local funding sources are based on dwindling fees from landline phone services. Residents "need to know their 911 centers are going broke, and they're going to have to do something different or their service is not going to be available," Porter said. He has been asked by Griesheimer to help "come up with a number" for possible consolidation of the state's answering point centers before the General Assembly's spring break in mid-March.

Senator Crowell says Missouri 911 should be ran as efficiently as Charter Communications

2009-02-16T23:40:00.004-06:00

Charter Communications to file Chapter 11

4 days ago

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cable operator Charter Communications Inc. says it will file Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization documents by April 1.

As part of an agreement with debt holders, they will be paid in full and Paul Allen will maintain the largest voting interest in the company.

The agreement says shareholders' stake in the company will be canceled.

The company says the agreement will reduce debt by about $8 billion.

Chief Executive Neil Smit says the St. Louis-based company's cable, Internet and telephone operations will continue throughout the debt restructuring process.

The agreement requires two subsidiaries to make interest payments of $74 million that were due Jan. 15.

CHECK OUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HAPPY WITH CHARTER'S CUSTOMER SERVICE: is this what Senator Crowell wants for your 911 in Missouri?

http://themadblogger.org/blogs/themadblogger/archive/2007/01/26/Charter-Communications-Still-Sucks.aspx

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/020/RipOff0020555.htm

http://www.topix.net/forum/com/chtr

http://www.rateitall.com/i-280152-charter-cable-tv.aspx

http://my.opera.com/usability/blog/show.dml/61589

Senator Crowell wants to "Starve Missouri 911 Centers"

2009-02-16T23:37:00.000-06:00

Sen. Jason Crowell wants to consolidate 911 call centers in Missouri

Sunday, February 8, 2009
By Peg McNichol
Southeast Missourian

County commissioners across the state want more funding for 911 centers.

But they aren't going to get it without making hard choices, according to Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau.

Crowell wants to see 911 centers across the state consolidated, a message he delivered to Cape Girardeau County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones during a meeting in Jefferson City on Thursday and repeated later that day during a Senate hearing. The hearing was for a bill introduced by Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, that would put a 25-cent cell phone tax on the ballot and allow the state to determine who gets the funding.

Voters have twice rejected taxing cell phones to pay for 911 services. Because cell phones are legally considered radio devices, they are not taxed, as land-line phones are, for 911 services. With more people dropping land lines in favor of cell-only service, funding for 911 has fallen.

More 911 calls

The number of calls into 911 centers has risen, requiring more dispatchers, according to county commissioners from around the state. Jones said as much to Crowell about Cape Girardeau's emergency services — and the need for better funding.

"You're never, ever going to get the money until you consolidate," Crowell said. "I'll force you. I'll starve you down to it, if you're not going to do it of your own free will."

He went on to say the state has 114 counties but 174 individual 911 call centers, including two across the street from one another in Chillicothe, Mo. In a world where all fast-food orders for a chain restaurant go to one place, he said, and all North American service calls for Charter Communications go through Cape Girardeau, there has to be a way to streamline 911 services.

"I know how important it is," Crowell said. "But by gosh we can do it more efficiently, and that's what the taxpayers deserve and that's what the taxpayers demand."

He said the state should have five call centers: one for each quadrant of Missouri and one in the middle.

"You do it and I'll support it," Jones said, adding a warning that it was an area of "turf wars."

Cape Girardeau County has three 911 centers, one operated by Cape Girardeau, one by Jackson and one by the county. Scott County has five independent 911 centers.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said he has been discussing consolidation with those in and around his county.

"I'm for [consolidation] as long as we can make it work and be efficient," he said. "You have to look at it from a business point of view."

At this point, he is spending $64,000 each year to close the gap between current 911 funding and the actual cost of providing the service.

Over the last month, he's laid off two part-time deputies and has not filled an open full-time deputy position.

Walter said he could see a regional center in any number of Southeast Missouri cities, such as Cape Girardeau, Sikeston or Benton.

But "once those 911 dispatchers leave, I'm still responsible for dispatching my own department," he said.

'Stretching it'

Mark Hasheider, assistant fire chief and emergency operations manager for Cape Girardeau, said the technology exists for consolidation, but without further research it appeared limiting the state to five 911 centers "would be stretching it."

Even after hearing Crowell suggested that a site similar to Cape Girardeau's new 911 center would be a perfect regional center, Hasheider questioned whether such centers could do what is necessary during an emergency.

"In my mind a regional hub could take a call and dispatch a firetruck that might be 100 miles away, but it takes a lot of technology to do that," he said. But he suggested that what could be lost is the ability for a distant dispatcher to know, in his example, that Snake Hill Road is also known as Cape Rock Drive.

"I'm not against the consolidation of 911 centers. In some counties that would be very beneficial, especially for counties that do not have 911 service as we know it today," he said.

Before anyone talks about where such centers would be, he said, there should be a clear understanding of dispatchers' responsibilities and whether call information would be forwarded or dispatched directly, as well as what would happen if one of the five regional centers was put out of commission for one reason or another.

He said Cape Girardeau's three centers "are working. It's not a broken system."

As Thursday's Senate hearing on Senate Bill 119 wound down, Griesheimer asked R.D. Porter, the state's 911 coordinator, to lead an effort among the counties to "come up with a number" for consolidating the centers.

Griesheimer said he wanted to see results before the Senate voted on the bill he introduced. He said he wanted the vote to happen before the Senate's mid-March spring break.

Cell Phone Tariff for 911

2007-11-07T09:28:00.000-06:00

By: Wes Wallace

DEXTER, Mo. - Most of us who own cell phones keep them in case of an emergency. Ironically, Missouri is the only state in the U.S. without a tariff on cell phones, and a big number of 911 calls come from those hand held devices. Plus, 911 centers only get their revenue from land line fees.

"We're down about $58,000 dollars this year from a drop in land line revenue," said Carol Moreland, director of Stoddard County 911. "We've lost about $150,000 in the last three years, so we really need to make up that deficit."

Right now, it's up to Governor Matt Blunt to create a statewide tariff for cell phones. A search committee is currently reviewing the situation and should report to Blunt in the near future.

St Charles Journal Story 11/3/2007

2007-11-06T08:24:00.000-06:00

Unknown caller

By Kalen Ponche

If you call 911 from a cell phone, don't assume dispatchers will know where you are. If you're in St. Charles County, they won't.

St. Charles is one of several counties in Missouri where 911 dispatchers are unable to pinpoint automatically the location of someone calling from a cell phone.

This can be a problem when the person calling isn't sure where they are, said Lt. Steve Roach, communications director for the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. All 911 calls made from cell phones are sent to dispatchers at the sheriff's department.

Roach said his department receives calls on a daily basis from people who don't know their exact location, especially if they are driving on Interstate 70 or Highway 40.

One time a man flipped his car on Highway 61 and wasn't sure where he was, Roach said. Dispatchers sent ambulances out to search for him and stayed on the line until the man heard the sirens, he said.

"We found the guy, but only through perseverance and due diligence," Roach said. "The guy was ready to pass out. It took a while (to find him)."

Inconsistent 911 coverage is a statewide issue, said Steve Makky, St. Charles County communications officer and 911 coordinator. He recently testified before an ad-hoc legislative committee appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt. The committee held hearings through the summer and fall to address the issue of 911 coverage.

In Missouri, about 21 counties have no 911 service at all, according to the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment released in 2006.

Many counties across the state can't locate a cell phone caller because they lack wireless phase one and phase two of enhanced 911 service. With phase one, cell phone companies provide 911 dispatchers with the phone number of the cell phone that's calling. With phase two, companies also send the location the call is coming from.

The Federal Communications Commission requires wireless telephone carriers to provide the number and location of a 911 call made from a cell phone if a Public Safety Answering Point or a municipality requests it. It also allows wireless carriers to pass along the charges for this capability to the PSAPs or municipalities.

St. Louis County was one of the first counties to request wireless phase one and phase two information from wireless telephone carriers, so it has provided it for free, said Tom McCormack, 911 coordinator for St. Louis County Police.

"At one point, one carrier told me 'It's time for you guys to pay,'" he said. "I said, 'We don't have any money to pay for it.'"

AT&T spokesperson Chelsey Ilten said AT&T has followed the FCC's recommendations to determine what costs municipalities are responsible for.

St. Charles County 911 dispatchers don't have wireless phase one or phase two because they don't have the money to pay for it, Makky said.

Right now, St. Charles County 911 service is funded by a 2 percent tariffed base rate tax on landline telephones.

But the number of people with landline phones in the county is shrinking despite the growing number of people living in St. Charles County. Makky said he's seen funding decrease. About 60 percent of 911 calls come from a cell phone, but none of them is helping pay for the 911 service, he said.

"What happens is, we've got a finite amount of resources, and we've got a very large call volume from cellular (phones)," he said. "And them not paying means we can't look at things that are going to bring up our costs. We can't identify what number someone is coming from, and we can't locate them."

Missouri is the only state in the country that does not have a tax on cell phones to fund 911 service. Missouri voters twice have rejected a 50-cent tax on cell phone bills, once in 1999 and once in 2002.

Makky said he'd like to see the Legislature pass a tax for cell phones but said he's not sure it would.

"I'm not sure if anything climate-wise has changed except that people are pretty certain that there's a problem," he said. "There are some people that wouldn't support any type of tax. A great deal of public education really needs to be done."

Bootheel 911 Hearing

2007-10-22T06:28:00.000-05:00

STANDARD DEMOCRAT
Counties call for help

911 cell phone tax discussed during forum

10/20/07
Scott Welton

ADVANCE —All across the state, 911 centers are having the same problem: declining revenue and rising costs.

Members of the State House Interim Committee to Evaluate the 9-1-1 System met with over 60 officials from area counties, state legislators, representatives from Rural Development and other interested individuals Friday morning at Advance City Hall for the last in a series of public forums on 911 systems. Previous meetings were held in Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Nixa, St. Louis County and Moberly.

Carol Moreland, administrator of Stoddard County’s 911, explained the only income that 911 centers in Missouri receive is from a land line tariff on the base telephone bill. In Stoddard County, this tariff is 15 percent which usually works out to about $1.14 per month on each land line.

“A land line telephone is a phone that has to be plugged into a wall,” she explained.

“A cellular tariff tax has never been passed in Missouri,” Moreland said. “Missouri is the only state in the nation without a cellular tariff income for 911.”

She said 911 centers still must provide 911 service for cell phones but don’t receive any money from them.

In addition, Moreland said, many people are discontinuing their land line service and only using cell phones. “So not only are we not getting paid to receive cellular calls, but our only income has decreased dramatically,” she said.

Stoddard County’s 911 revenue has dropped $40,000 since 2004, Moreland said.

Moreland said 911 dispatching equipment is obsolete after five years and is ready to be replaced by this time anyway as it is in use 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Scott County Commissioners Ron McCormick said the drop in 911 revenue in Scott County has made it necessary to regularly transfer money from the county’s general revenue fund to make up the shortfall.

When it comes to dropping revenue, “everybody’s in the same boat,” said Mark Allen of Lafayette County.

Some counties are still not able to get their 911 service established, Allen said, while “those of us that have 911 are struggling to stay afloat. ... It is a huge issue, an issue I’m glad you are addressing.”

Committee members said this has “been a recurring theme” in the meetings held all over the state.

“We are very much aware of the situation,” they said. “Every meeting we have had, we have heard the same story.”

“The 911 centers are going broke,” said Rep. Mark J. Bruns, 113th District, chairman of the committee.

Alan Wells, 911 director St. Francois County, said his county’s voters approved a 15 percent 911 surcharge on telephone service in 1991 without specifying that it would only apply to land lines.

It was noted by several people during the meeting that cell phone companies have insisted that they are not a telephone service and lobbied against any state 911 tax for cell phones while at the same time advertising that cell phones are a necessity for emergencies.

Committee member Rep. Therese Sander, 22nd District, said if you ask most people why they bought a cellular phone, the response would be “So if something happens, I’ll be able to get help.”

Wells said half of the calls his 911 center receives now are from cell phones. With a 15 percent 911 tax each land line generates about $1.35 per month St. Francois County, Wells said. He said proposed legislation to add a surcharge to cell phones has ranged from 50 cents to $1 per month.

As it is also proposed that 40 percent be diverted to help rural counties without 911 establish their service, that means his center would only get about 30 cents per cell phone — minus 3 cents that would be deducted for processing, Wells said. He said that means it would take five cell phones to make up for a single land line.

“It’s a shame that dollars and cents are tied to lives,” Wells said.

“I have learned so much over the past months,” said Ellen Brandom, 160th District’s state representative.

Brandom said she has learned, for example, that the tax on land lines for 911 ranges from 1 percent in places like St. Louis to 15 percent in small counties. “We’re going to do our best to get help on this,” she pledged.

Bruns said it has mostly been county and 911 officials testifying at the meetings, but when citizens have spoken it has been in support of a cell phone tariff for 911.

Joe Burton, emergency management director for Scott County and a former E-911 administrator for that county, said one thing that is making it difficult to get voters to approve a 911 tax on cell phones is that their bills list a federal 911 tax, so “everybody thinks they’re paying a 911 tax.”

Burton has stated many times, however, that local 911 centers do not receive any of this money and he can’t find out where that money goes.

Sander said people expect 911 service with cell phones. “We’re talking about an educational effort,” she said.

There needs to be a “groundswell” of grassroots support, or legislators may not back a 911 tax, Sander said.

Effective education is also critical, Bruns said, as “the public has to understand what we’re doing.”

A rough draft of the committee’s report based on the meetings is expected in November while the final version is to be completed by Dec. 1.

“We’ve heard a lot as we’ve traveled across the state,” Bruns said. “We look forward to coming up with a solution to this problem.”

During the drafting process, “we will be more than happy to take suggestions,” he said.

Bruns said the report will be made public upon completion.

During the work sessions for preparing the report, the committee will determine what direction to take this issue and hope to see it result in effective legislation not only for cell phones, but for other emerging communication technologies such as Voice Over the Internet “so 10 years from now we’re not back in the same place,” Bruns said.

Last two 911 hearings scheduled

2007-10-03T12:48:00.000-05:00

The final two 911 hearings have been scheduled in the St. Louis and Southeast Missouri regions. The dates, times and locations are posted to the right.

Thank you to everyone who has testified and shown support at the other hearings held around the state...

Scott County's 911 still on the cutting edge

2007-09-05T08:37:00.001-05:00

09/04/07
Scott Welton

SIKESTON — A lot of things have changed over the last 10 years for Scott County’s 911 dispatching center — some for the better, some not so much.

“Technology-wise, we are a lot more advanced,” said Joe Burton, emergency management director for Scott County and former E-911 administrator. “Financially, we’re a lot worse off.”
Burton assumed responsibility for the county’s emergency dispatching center in Morley on June 1, 1997.

“We actually went online on Sept. 11, 1997,” he recalled. “When we first opened 911 down there, we were an Enhanced 911 system.

We opened as an enhanced system, which means we got phone numbers and addresses for the call.

Not everybody does that — there are still counties in the state of Missouri that are not enhanced.”

The county’s 911 also started out with a GIS mapping system and the ability to receive cell phone calls, although with cell phone calls “we got a telephone number on the screen but nothing else,” Burton said.

Three or four years later, the county improved its GIS system, he recalled. “Around that point in time we upgraded and we started getting Phase 2 calls,” Burton said.

He explained with Phase 2, the 911 equipment is able to display which tower a cell phone call is coming from and even which side of the tower, narrowing down considerably the search area for callers who don’t tell dispatchers their location.

“About a year after that, we upgraded out 911 software,” Burton continued. “We also started answering some phase 3 calls.”

With Phase 3, latitude and longitude information is transmitted for cell phone calls so the location is plotted on a GIS map.

“At that point in time we were only the third county in the state that was doing that,” Burton said.

“We have stayed on the cutting edge of technology since we opened — and we still are on the cutting edge.”

In February 2006, the move of the dispatch center from Morley to the new Scott County Jail along with 911 software and GIS upgrades was completed.

Soon after, Burton handed off the 911 administration duties but continues to serve as mapping and GIS coordinator for the county’s E-911.

From desktop phones and radio sets to a completely computerized system, the county’s 911 has come a long way.

“I’m really proud of what Scott County has done as far as technology goes,” Burton said.

With the ability to track a variety of data from response times to the origins of aborted 911 calls, technological changes over the last decade have definitely been for the better, even if they do involve a steeper learning curve for administrators and dispatcher than when he started 10 years ago.

“The financial side is a little different,” Burton said. “Over these 10 years, we’ve seen wire line phones, which is what our tax base is built on, go away and people are using cell phones. Last year Scott County lost about $60,000 in revenue because of that. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money but when our budget is as small as it is anyway, $60,000 is a significant chunk.”

Burton explained there is no 911 tax on cell phones, even though the charge appears on some cell phone bills.

The question of how or why 911 charges are appearing on Missouri cell phone bills when no state or local agency is receiving any of the revenue was even asked at a recent state Senate committee hearing a couple of weeks ago, Burton said: “Nobody knows for sure where that’s going.”

Missouri voters have rejected all attempts to add a 911 tax to cell phone bills so far.

“Quite frankly, the time is coming that the citizens of this county and the citizens of Missouri are going to have to make a decision on whether they want this service or not, because that is what it is going to boil down to,” Burton said. “911 basically is just like any other business: if the revenue is not there, you can not keep it open.”

Providing E-911 services is “not getting any cheaper; it’s getting more expensive every year,” Burton said.

With or without a 911 tax for cell phones, Burton believes a change is needed keep 911 dispatching viable in the future.

“I think the time has come — not only financially, but for better protection for the citizens — that we need to look at regional dispatching,” he said.

One centralized 911 dispatching center could effectively service “three, four, five counties,” Burton said. “It could even be bigger than that.”

Missouri County Keeps 911 Tax Rate at 10 Percent

2007-09-01T17:57:00.000-05:00

County Keeps 911 Tax Rate at 10 Percent
By Sarah Wienke , Missourian Staff Writer

The county will be able to establish a central countywide 911 system without raising the telephone tax rate for emergency 911 services.

The Franklin County Commission Thursday set the 2008 E911 tax at 10 percent, the same rate since 2003.

"I think we can complete the project with what we have in place," said Emergency Management Agency Director Bob Dopp.

Dopp has recommended keeping the tax at 10 percent and using the money in the county's 911 fund to pay for new equipment.

The fund, which is made up of revenue from the 911 tax on landline phone bills, has a current balance of $830,000.

In 1992, county voters approved a tax ceiling of 15 percent, but the county has never collected that maximum.

Rates have varied from 6.5 percent to 11 percent since the tax was established.

Presiding Commissioner Ed Hillhouse said he looked at figures from the clerk's office, the treasurer's office and the auditor's office to make sure a 10 percent tax rate will cover the cost of operating a countywide 911 system.

Dopp said he has researched other counties in Missouri that have shifted to a similar countywide 911 plan to get an idea of how much it will cost.

The ballpark figure for equipment and updates is $700,000, he said.The county's consultant said the cost could be as much as $1 million, but officials think that figure is too high.

"This is the taxpayers' money," Dopp said. "We have to show them that we are spending it in a good way, not spending money where we don't need to."GeoComm, based out of Minneapolis, Minn., has developed a plan that will link city communication centers with a county dispatch center so fewer 911 calls have to be transferred to the appropriate dispatchers.

"We're working closely with fire departments and police departments to make sure the new system will match their systems," Dopp said. A subcommittee of EMA officials and representatives of each PSAP has been formed to guide the process and "look at the total picture."

The plan is to establish a Franklin County Emergency Communications Center in the sheriff's office.

That center will house law enforcement dispatchers, 911 call takers and fire and emergency services dispatchers.

911 calls from Union, St. Clair and unincorporated areas will be processed at the county's 911 dispatching center.

Pacific, Sullivan and Washington will continue to operate their own dispatching centers, or Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs), but will be equipped with common technology that interfaces with the county's new equipment.

This will be Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and 911 technology.

The CAD will be outfitted with mapping technology so that every call will plot onto a GIS map.

The PSAPs will be connected to the county communications center.All of the equipment will be 100 percent paid for with the 911 tax.

"Right now, we can't identify the location of 911 calls from cell phones," Dopp said.

The new, enhanced system will identify on a map where the call is coming from, increasing response time.

More than 60 percent of the county's 911 calls come from cell phones. "Dispatchers spend a lot of time trying to figure out where the call is coming from," he said.

Additionally, the county is losing tax revenue as people shift from landlines to cell phones.

Currently no tax is collected on cell phone bills to cover wireless 911 calls. Missouri is the only state in the country that does not have a state wireless service recovery fee in place to fund wireless 911 calls.

Dopp hopes that will soon change.Earlier this month, Dopp formed a delegation of county emergency officials to go to the state Capitol to meet with members of the House and Senate to lobby for changes to the way tax is collected for 911 calls.

During the two-day hearing, officials from throughout the state told legislators the financial impact Missouri counties are facing with declining revenues and how passing a surcharge for wireless calls would benefit 911 systems.

The state's public safety director, Mark James, recommended a 75-cent monthly fee per cell phone number, which would generate about $33.8 million a year to be shared among counties.

"That would help us fund our equipment and staff," Dopp said.If legislators don't pass a cell phone tax, Franklin County may have to raise the telephone emergency 911 tax rate in the future, Dopp said. "But I can't see raising that tax right now," he said, noting that each 1 percent increase only gains the county an additional $65,000 for 911 services.

Additional House 911 Hearing Locations/Times Announced

2007-08-31T14:31:00.000-05:00

According to State 911 Coordinator R.D. Porter...

The next round of meetings with the House 911 Interm Committee will be held in St. Joseph on September 13th at 1:00 P.M. The location will be at the St. Joe City Hall located at 1100 Frederick St. in the council chambers.

The following meeting will be held in Nixa, MO on September 14th at 9:00 A.M. The location will be the Nixa Community Center located at 701 Taylor Way.

JCPD, sheriff add voices to call for 911 service

2007-08-30T11:43:00.000-05:00

By Jeff Haldiman
jhaldiman@newstribune.com

“Our motto is just like the real estate industry - location, location, location.”

That statement came from Doug Keeney, supervisor of the Jefferson City Police Department's records division, who testified Monday before the House Interim Committee to Evaluate the 911 System.

Work started in January to give operators at the Jefferson City Police Department's communications center the ability to better locate 911 calls from cell phones.

It's the last of a two-step process that was established by the Federal Communications Commission to deliver location information for wireless callers.

The first phase of the project was completed in Jefferson City in 2002. It allowed 911 operators to see the cell tower receiving the call, which sector or antenna received the signal and the caller's cell phone number.

The second phase will allow operators to get latitude and longitude coordinates of the cell phone and to translate and display that information to a digital map. This phase of the project should be completed in the next six months.

“We do get misrouted calls, usually from the St. Louis area or surrounding counties,” Keeney said. “The 911 industry didn't look outside the box on technology development so 911 is catching up.”

All 911 service is paid for by general revenue sales tax.

The county also pays a user fee.

The Jefferson City communications center dispatches all city and county law enforcement calls, as well as fire service calls.

Cole County Sheriff Greg White also testified before the committee, noting that many 911 entities have to balance funding needs between equipment upgrades and maintaining qualified personnel.

He noted the recent murder outside of St. Martins, where the alleged shooter's son called the 911 center while in his bedroom, showed that the calm and quick actions of the operators on duty made that situation as safe as possible.

White also said he would support a 75-cent fee to help pay for upgrading 911 cell phone service.

Missouri Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce

2007-08-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

During a disaster, call volume and an inability of PSAP personnel to report to work due to a disaster can overwhelm a PSAP.

TERT is a disaster response group of telecommunicators and other PSAP support personnel that are available to assist Missouri jurisdictions or other states during a declared disaster.

TERT will locate Telecommunicators that are trained on your equipment and protocols and deploy them to your site to augment your staff until the situation stablizes.

TERT is an acronym that stands for Telecommunicator Emergency Response Taskforce.

A TERT response in Missouri will be authorized by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

SEMA serves as the contact point for any TERT request and will notify the Missouri TERT Coordinator, when a request for assistance is received.

Authority to deploy requires the declaration of an emergency in the jurisdiction requesting assistance and participation in the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC).

PSAPs may decline to assist if such a response would deplete staffing within their Center, due to staffing shortages, or otherwise negatively impact the PSAPs ability to perform their normal functions.

In order to assist with compiling the necessary information for a TERT response, please take some time to fill out this assessment.

http://carrollcounty911.com/MoTERTsurvey.html

Information that is gathered during this survey will be treated as proprietary and will not be sold or shared with vendors and others without a need to know.

For more information, please contact:

MoTERT Coordinator

Elizabeth Pierson, Director
Carroll County Communication Center
2 N Monroe St
Carrollton, MO 64633
c.county911@mchsi.com
660.542.3911

Safety #1 Reason Why Seniors Purchase Cell Phones - AARP

2007-08-26T22:35:00.000-05:00

Cell Phone Safety and User Fees at Issue in Albany

AARP Takes Its Case to the State Capital

Here's a quick test of your cell phone awareness.

What's the number one reason people age 65 and older buy a cell phone?

If you guessed "safety," then you're absolutely correct, according to an AARP survey of cell phone users age 65 and older.

What's more, said AARP State Director Lois Aronstein, baby boomer children of older adults want their parents to carry cell phones for security reasons.

But going wireless is not without its risks. Many new cell phone users are frustrated with the prevalence of hidden fees that come with most cell phone services. Did you know that hidden fees can make up 20% of cell phone costs?

AARP New York is alerting state lawmakers to these important issues this spring.

We are supporting legislation that requires cell phone service providers to enhance 911 services so that emergency personnel can identify the location of cell phone calls.

The legislation also requires companies to inform customers of all additional fees—including setup, directory assistance and text messaging—along with their rates for "basic" cell phone use.

Lack of Funding puts 911 callers in Missouri on HOLD

2007-08-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

Lack of funding puts Missouri wireless 911 service on hold
Monday, August 13, 2007

By Ann Pierceall
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Missouri is the only state in the country lacking a mechanism to fund wireless 911 service, and 17 counties in the state have no 911 service at all.

Efforts to bring such service to all of Missouri keep hitting a brick wall — funding. Voters have twice turned down ballot initiatives to fund 911 statewide.

State members of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) say a simple user fee — one that could be placed on tires or batteries, for example — doesn't need voter approval. Such a fee could be tacked onto a cell phone owner's monthly bill for wireless 911 service.

Missouri NENA President Mike Kindle said getting government officials to act on a measure is the group's challenge. Legislation was readied for this past session but never made it to a vote.
"We've been told more than once ... this is going to sound really bad ... but to get on the radar screen, you have to have a tragedy. We are trying hard to get this fixed before there's a tragedy," Kindle said.

Kindle said there's a second purpose in trying to get the word out about wireless 911 funding.

"People think they can call 911 on their cell phone and be located. That's just not true in most areas. Unfortunately, most 911 centers across the state are unable to locate them at this time. We want them to be prepared," he said.

Kindle said many of the state's centers don't have the locally driven funding to buy the technology to locate 911 callers. Even more technology is needed for devices such as Blackberrys and voice-over products now on the market.

In Northeast Missouri, four counties have no 911 service at all: Knox, Scotland, Schuyler and Clark. Any 911 calls placed in those counties are routed to different agencies that have the service. The ability to locate a 911 wireless caller is limited at best.

Lewis, Shelby, Monroe and Ralls counties have some capacity to locate wireless 911 callers. Marion County can receive wireless 911 calls but cannot locate a caller.

Mike Hall, executive director for Marion County 911, doesn't want to alarm local citizens. He said each of these counties have enacted funding systems to help keep them functioning. He said "it's very disturbing" to know that nearby counties have no 911 service.

"If the state doesn't make 911 funding a top priority, it's going to continue to be in crisis," he said. "Every state around us has passed wireless 911 funding. (Someone) using the U.S. 36 corridor expects the same level of service they get in Illinois and Kansas.

"We're the last state in country that hasn't gotten this worked out."

R.D. Porter, the state 911 coordinator, said funding has been an issue for more than 10 years. It boils down to citizen expectations.

"They expect the same level of service as they get on a landline phone. They expect to get that service no matter where they're at in the state of Missouri," he said. "What they don't have is the understanding that it's not there."

Porter says some counties have no tax base to support 911 of any sort.

Last year, $425,000 in Homeland Security grant money was spent to do a study to determine the state of 911 in Missouri. Porter credited Gov. Matt Blunt, who after the study was released called on legislators to address the issue.

"(But) all he can do is ask ... he can't make them do it," Porter said. "This is a public safety issue. This isn't a political issue. And folks on both sides of the aisle need to understand that."

Republican Speaker of the House Rod Jetton has created a House subcommittee to investigate how best to tackle wireless 911 funding.

It will be led by Rep. Mark Bruns, R-Jefferson City.

The subcommittee will hold hearings across the state to get feedback from local officials and residents.

Jetton hopes for a report by December. He proposed using a more regional approach, routing such calls through a regional 911 center instead of the county-run centers used now.

"The problem is territories. Nobody wants to give up their 911 systems," he said.

Jetton said the user-fee option is one option to look at for funding, pointing out that no matter what the solution is, "we'll not be about to do it for free."

"The local governments are going to have to communicate to voters and tax payers why this is so important," he said. "It's definitely a huge need. The emergencies aren't slowing down."

Kansas City Star Endorses Wireless Surcharge

2007-08-26T19:53:00.001-05:00

Editorial: August 9, 2007

Missouri needs 911 fee for cell phone users

In many areas of Missouri, a cell phone call to 911 for help is routed to a dispatcher far away from the caller with the emergency.

Often dispatchers cannot pinpoint the location of 911 calls.

They lack the equipment. Cell phone callers, including children, who can’t identify their location are at risk because of Missouri’s inadequate 911 system.

About 20 counties in Missouri have no 911 emergency service, even via landlines. Yet 911, where available, is a proven lifesaver, the fastest way to get emergency help.

Previous ballot proposals to improve 911 service in Missouri probably failed because proposed emergency call surcharges on cell phones would have gone, in part, to phone companies.

That should not be part of any new proposal that goes to Missouri voters.

Missouri pays for 911 largely through county-assessed tariffs on landline phones. Cell phone users do not pay anything to the state to connect to 911 services. That’s not fair.

As more people switch to using cell phones, use of landlines is dropping.

To make up the difference between 911 costs and available funding, many counties have to dip into their regular budgets.

Betty Knight, Platte County presiding commissioner, says her county pays more than $450,000 out of its general fund to supplement what it receives from its county landline tax.

A Missouri legislative committee is considering proposals by the Mid-America Regional Council and others to implement a 911 surcharge both for wireless and Voice Over Internet services.

No one likes all of the perplexing extra fees on phone bills already, and efforts should be made to reduce them. But a 911 surcharge would clearly enhance public safety.

Kansas has a 50-cents-a-month statewide emergency calling fee for cell phone and Voice Over Internet service.

Missouri Public Safety Director Mark James has called for a 75-cents-a-month surcharge to pay for expanded services.

This is welcome leadership that could save lives.

Jefferson County Missouri Facing 911 Funding Crisis because of cell phones

2007-08-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

Call 911, but who pays? Emergency services footing more of the bill
By Sarah AuBuchon Jefferson County Journal
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 1:31 PM CDT

Members of the Jefferson County 911 Board of Directors say they are losing money each time a cell phone user calls the center with an emergency.Board members testified Aug. 6 before the Missouri House Interim Committee asking for legislation that would allow them to put into effect a surcharge on cell phone bills for 911 usage.

Board member David Kennedy said the room was full of representatives from 911 call centers statewide who testified about the lack of revenue from cell users.

"Jefferson County has seen cellular 911 calls escalate to 50 percent of the calls received with no decrease in other calls, but no funding flows to the center to pay for handling those calls," Kennedy said.

De Soto Rural Fire Chief Paul Mayer, who is also on the 911 board, said the call center has had to dramatically raise the rates charged to emergency service entities, such as police and fire departments, to help offset some of the lost revenue.

"De Soto's 911 fees went up 93 percent," he said. "Cell phones are a huge part of that."Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer said the sheriff's office pays more than $600,000 per year in 911 fees."It's a pretty good chunk out of our budget," he said.

Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, said out of 114 Missouri counties, there are 21 with no 911 service and only 12 with the capability to track the location of a cell phone.

Roorda said federal regulation calls for all Missouri counties to have 911 service and to be upgraded to "Phase 2," which includes cell phone tracking, within the next several years.Roorda said there is now a surcharge on cell phone bills for 911 service, but the money does not actually go to 911 entities."

Cell phone companies are charging a 911 surcharge for infrastructure as part of the Phase 2 requirements," he said.House Interim Committee Chair Rep. Mark Bruns, R-113, testified before the committee that the 911 system is "in definite need of evaluation.""It's in desperate need of funds," he said.

"Frankly, the most important thing that will come out of the committee is (determining) how we can go about appropriating the funds."

Roorda said he filed a bill last year that would allow Jefferson and other counties the authority to put a tax increase for cell phones before voters, but the measure failed.

"We ought to support certain things as taxpayers," he said. "It's unfair that landline users have carried the burden for so long."

Missouri Department of Public Safety Director Mark James said that with no state fee levied on cell users for 911, it is becoming more difficult to sustain and upgrade the service.

"Missouri's 911 response system is one of the worst in the nation," he said. "Over three-fourths of the 911 centers have equipment that is six years old or older, some are on the verge of closing and 21 counties have no 911 service at all."

Missouri Public Safety Director Testifies on the Current Status of 911 in Missouri

2007-08-26T19:43:00.000-05:00

Complete transcript of testimony from Mark S. James, Director, Department of Public Safety, on the current status of 911 in the State of Missouri, August 6th, 2007:

Representative Bruns and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak briefly on the current status of 911 in the State of Missouri.

When an emergency occurs, 911 is the link between first responders and the communities they serve. Ask any child the number to call in an emergency and they will quickly recite, “911”.

But is help really on its way when you call 911 in the State of Missouri? The startling answer is if you are calling by wireless phone, probably not.

The reality is there is a greater than two-thirds chance that emergency responders cannot find you if you are calling 911 by cell phone in Missouri.

More disturbing is the fact that a recent engineering study concluded that most Missouri 911 systems are outdated and even non-existent in 21 Missouri counties. According to the report, 77 percent of Missouri 911 centers have equipment more than six years old, cannot locate cell phone callers, and in a widespread emergency such as multiple tornadoes or a catastrophic earthquake, few 911 centers would have the ability to communicate with each other.

Years ago before wireless technology was even dreamed of, the Missouri General Assembly had the courage to implement a 75-cent fee per hardwire telephone service in Missouri to fund 911 centers.

With few exceptions, most 911 centers in Missouri are funded only for hardwire services but have taken on the extra responsibility of wireless 911 callers.

The problem our 911 centers now face is that the number of “wireless” phones in Missouri have exceeded and are replacing the number of hardwire phones.

So while the wireless 911 demands are increasing, the hardwire 911 revenue stream is decreasing.

Some of our 911 centers are on the verge of closing because of this lack of funding.

Other than the 75-cent hardwire fee, 911 funding has been left to local and county jurisdictions to fend for themselves.

Missouri now has the dubious distinction of being the only state in the nation to not have a wireless-fee recovery mechanism to fund the needs of “wireless” 911 on a statewide basis.

Missouri’s 911 systems need a significant overhaul. The striking deficiencies are not only shocking, but dangerous.

Missourians attempting life-saving calls from their wireless phones expecting police, firefighters and ambulances to respond may not be found depending on where they are in the State.

Ours is one of the worst in the nation and actions must be taken to correct this life-threatening problem.

It is clear that only decisive action and leadership by the State of Missouri will fix this problem. Leaving the problem for local jurisdictions will not work.

A few localities have passed local taxes or fees and have good systems, 21 Missouri counties cannot afford any 911 systems on their own, and most fall somewhere in between.

Further compounding the problem is that the average Missourian has no idea of how dangerous the current situation is in the State of Missouri as evidenced by the fact that the issue of funding wireless 911 has been defeated twice by ballot election.

So often the warnings of public safety officials go unheeded until a catastrophe occurs and then the finger-pointing and blame-game gets played out in the media.

I pray that we don’t have to have a catastrophe occur before we have the courage to start fixing this situation.

For all of the above reasons, I strongly encourage you to take these hearings on the road throughout the State of Missouri.

Doing so will accomplish your hearing first-hand from the many local and county public safety professionals I hear from on a daily basis as to how dire things are.

Just last week, the 9 Regional Homeland Security Oversight Committees in Missouri were unanimous in ranking 911 as the state’s most important Homeland Security issue.

At the same time, the US Department of Homeland Security adjudged that our 911 system is in such bad shape that spending our limited federal grant on it would be but a drop in the bucket and that the State of Missouri should find the appropriate funding mechanism to fix it.

Conducting hearings around the state will help to inform Missourians about the condition of 911 statewide and help to reinforce the needed action by the General Assembly.

At the strategic level I would suggest that this committee consider the following issues:

1. Review the current numerous disparate statutes on the books concerning 911 and compare them with the recommended language developed by the 911 Oversight Committee.

2. Review the recommendations contained within the engineering study with regards to needed technology.

3. Consider the funding needs for establishing and modernizing 911 on a statewide basis. Any state funding mechanism should come with the requirement of consolidation of systems for efficiency and effectiveness.

Finally, I would like to thank Governor Blunt for his support on this issue and for his asking the help of the General Assembly in researching the problem and offering solutions.

I also thank Speaker Jetton for convening this bipartisan committee of Representatives, and you, many of whom have been career public safety officials and who bring vast amounts of experience to this issue, for serving on this committee.

As Director of the Department of Public Safety and Chairman of the State 911 Oversight Committee, I pledge any and all support of these two organizations to help your committee in its due diligence.

I would now gladly entertain any questions the committee might have of me.

Missouri 911 Funding Could "Disconnect"

2007-08-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

KOMU.com:

MOBERLY - 911 centers get tens of thousands of calls a year, but they're running out of money. KOMU looked into why they're losing money even though they're funded through a phone tax.
In most counties in Missouri right now if you own a land-line, you pay your local 911 center between $.75 cents and a $1 a month.

But if you call from your cell phone, like most people do today, you're calling for free and that's why some 911 centers in mid-Missouri are in trouble.

"We are a financially challenged community, operating at a deficit," said Randolph County Commissioner Doug Galaske.

The Randolph County 911 center took 30,000 calls last year and is going broke.
Responders echo the trend there isn't enough money.

"If something is not done, a lot of these 911 centers are going to fold," said Moberly Police Commander Kevin Palmatory.

A land-line fee isn't enough anymore.

"The funding that we've set the system upon is disappearing, that land-line," said Galaske. "And what's replacing it, the cell phone, isn't contributing anything to the money, and that's what's led to the problem."

This creates other problems.

"If it happens to be a cell phone, right now at this stage in the game, we can't tell where they are," said Palmatory.

Most counties in Missouri don't have money to buy equipment to find cell phone callers.
After hearing from counties around Missouri Wednesday, the committee will hear from cell phone service providers about a solution next week and then begin drafting a report or proposal for the state legislature.

Missouri is the only state in the country without a cell phone charge for 911 calls.

Officials say Missouri 911 centers just can't afford to take cell phone calls for free.

"We're just asking them, look you've got this service, you're getting this service, just pay," said Palmatory.

14 counties in Missouri have no 911 system in place.

The committee hopes for a state-wide solution to help improve 911 centers across the board, and will submit its proposal to the legislature in December.

If a cell phone tariff bill passes it would go into effect next August.

Summary of the Statewide 911 Assessment:

2007-08-06T23:29:00.001-05:00

Talking points from the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment by L. Robert Kimball & Associates Architects and Engineers:

· 21 counties in Missouri (18%) have no 911 service at all. This is almost as many as the total number of counties in our eight neighboring states combined (26).

· Out of 171 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) in the state, only 68 have enhanced wireless 911 service. (Enhanced 911 service is defined as an emergency telephone system that includes network switching, database and customer premises equipment capable of providing selective routing, transfer and certain maintenance functions.)

· There are 3.2 million wireline telephone subscribers in Missouri.

· There are 3.8 million wireless telephone subscribers in Missouri.

· The lifecycle of 911 equipment is seven years. 77% of Missouri’s PSAP equipment is more than six years old.

· Nearly all of the customer premises equipment (CPE) in Missouri PSAPs cannot be upgraded to accommodate new communications technologies being used by the public because it is so old and outdated.

· Most PSAPs lacked the ability to account for the number of wireless 911 calls versus wireline calls but estimated receiving 642,377 wireless calls per year.

· Missouri has no law mandating the provision of enhanced 911. As a result, 911 service is not available statewide and the level of service that exists is not consistent. In a widespread emergency, few of Missouri’s 911 systems will be able to communicate effectively with one another, if at all.

· A statewide IP-enabled infrastructure connecting PSAPs in a redundant environment should be a state goal.

· A fee of 75 cents per month per wireless (i.e., cellular and VOIP) 911 access would generate approximately $34.2 million per year.

· Missouri is the ONLY state in the nation that does not have a state wireless service recovery fee mechanism to fund wireless 911.

· Without a state wireless service recovery fee, Missouri will never attain statewide enhanced 911 service and some existing PSAPs will cease to exist because of lack of funding.

Director of Public Safety says that MISSOURI's 911 system is "one of the worst in the nation"

2007-08-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 service.

Voters have twice rejected ballot measures to raise taxes for 911 service, most recently in 2002.

Public Safety Director Mark James told lawmakers Monday that service needs to improve, and recommended a 75-cent monthly fee per cell phone number.

That fee would generate about $33.8 million a year, nearly as much as what's collected now through the fee on landline numbers, state emergency officials said."Ours is one of the worst in the nation, and actions must be taken to correct this life-threatening problem," James said. "I pray that we don't have to have a catastrophe occur before we have the courage to fix this situation."

About three-fourths of Missouri's 171 emergency call centers also have outdated equipment and need technology improvements, such as the ability to share data with each other in a major disaster, James said.

Read full article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/missouristatenews/story/12A09210FBF39F8D8625732F007A12E0?OpenDocument

Missourinet reports that calling 911 by cell is IFFY in MISSOURI

2007-08-06T23:18:00.001-05:00

9-1-1 is the universal emergency telephone number, but concerns are being raised at the State Capitol that, in more and more instances, if you dial 9-1-1 you might not get the emergency help you need.

State Public Safety Director Mark James puts it bluntly to a special House committee evaluate the state 9-1-1 system, "The reality is there is greater than two-thirds chance that emergency responders cannot find you if you are calling 9-1-1 by cell phone in Missouri."

Rep. Mark Bruns (R-Jefferson City) chairs the Interim Committee to Evaluate the 9-1-1 System. Bruns sees two big problems.

There are 3.2 million landline telephones in Missouri and 3.7 million cell phones and while Missouri charges a 75-cent fee on landlines to fund the 9-1-1 system, it is the only state that doesn't charge a similar fee on cell phones.

The revenue generated by the fee can no longer keep up with the costs of running the system.

The other problem, according to Bruns, is the disparity of 9-1-1 access in metropolitan and rural areas of the state.

He notes that 21 rural counties don't have 9-1-1 systems.

Testimony before the committee disclosed that most 9-1-1 systems are outdated and more revenue needs to be generated to make upgrades and expand it to cover the entire state.

A big problem faces the committee: Missouri voters rejected 9-1-1 cell phone fees twice; in 1998 and 2002.

Missouri 911 - SAVING LIVES in spite of inadequate technology

2007-08-06T22:47:00.000-05:00

Johnson County, MO Central Dispatch: Saving Lives In Spite of Inadequate Technology

Johnson County, MO Central Dispatch is a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in western Missouri. Currently, like most PSAPs in the state, Johnson County Central dispatch is unable to locate wireless 9-1-1 calls. They are able to receive wireless calls but have no location data or a call back number if calls get disconnected.

Copies of two recent Phase 0 wireless 9-1-1 calls clearly highlighting the need for Phase II wireless E9-1-1 and federal grants to support technology upgrades are available at http://www.nena.org/pages/Content.asp?CID=222&CTID=10

On June 9th, 2006, at 2:48 a.m. Johnson County Central Dispatch received a frantic wireless Phase 0 call from a woman requesting help because of a domestic abuse situation. The recording only lasts for about 25 seconds in which the caller is short of breath, panicked and shouting that her husband has abused her and taken the phone from her. Then the caller begins to scream hysterically as her husband takes the phone from her and the call is disconnected. As of today, Johnson County Central Dispatch has not received any additional calls, nor do they know the status of the caller. They likely never will.

On Saturday, May 20th, at 5:43 p.m. Johnson County Central Dispatch received a Wireless Phase 0 call. Initially, the only sound that could be heard was a very faint sound of "help me", but the caller was non-responsive to questions from the 9-1-1 call taker. For the next 4 minutes, constant attempts by personnel within Johnson County Central Dispatch to determine the caller’s location were responded to with an occasional “help me". While the line remained open all attempts to communicate with the caller were met with silence until the 15th minute of the call. Realizing there was a problem, including the sound of a smoke detector in the background, the
9-1-1 telecommunicator did not disconnect the call and remained on the line. In the 18th minute the caller was finally able to speak and after numerous questions the telecommunicator was able to determine the location of the caller. Emergency services were dispatched to an address in the City Limits of Warrensburg, MO, thought the specific apartment number was not known.

Once on the scene, responders needed to determine which apartment the caller was in. The 9-1-1 telecommunicator began playing the classic game of “hot and cold” with responders on the scene as they banged on doors asking the telecommunicator if they could hear knocking getting louder over the phone. 28 minutes into the call responders were successful in gaining entrance into the apartment and found the caller unconscious with her cell phone on the ground next to her.The 21 year pregnant woman put something on the stove and took a shower. She came out of the shower and was overcome by the smoke of something burning on the stove. She collapsed and called 9-1-1 from her cell phone as she was passing out. Thanks to the dedication of Johnston County Central Dispatch, the caller was saved. However this very well could have ended in tragedy and would likely have ended much faster had the location of the caller been known.Both of these calls are clear examples of the importance of the precise location of all 9-1-1 calls, and the critical importance of federal funding for grants to PSAPs to upgrade their technology to locate wireless 9-1-1 calls.
Transcript of Johnson County, MO Wireless Phase 0
Domestic Abuse 9-1-1 Call

Caller: …trying to hurt me. Give me the phone.

Telecommunicator: Johnson County 9-1-1. What is your emergency?

Caller: Um, yes. My husband just sit here and, and abused me.

Telecommunicator: OK, what’s your address?

Caller: He tried to take a phone from me….

Telecommunicator: What’s your address?

Caller: …so that I, so that I, so that I could call somebody.

Telecommunicator: What is your address?

Caller:

Male Voice: Get off the phone!

Caller:

Telecommunicator: What is your address?

Caller:

Missouri 911 System Among Worst In US TOP STORY KMIZ-TV

2007-08-06T22:34:00.002-05:00

Problems with Missouri's 911 systems are under the microscope.

Right now 18 counties do not have landline 911 service and half of Missouri's counties lack the ability to track cell phone calls at all.

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

We found out that some of the 911 systems that need the most improvements are right here in Mid-Missouri.

The lack of service for cell phones is a growing problem because the majority of 911 calls are now made from mobile phones.

In Mid-Missouri, if you're Callaway, Cole, Randolph, Montgomery or Saline counties it's difficult for dispatchers to trace the call.

"We have one of the worst systems in the nation. There is a two-thirds chance that if you were to dial 911 from a cell phone in the state of Missouri that you would not be found by public safety officials," says Mark James, Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Right now Callaway County has phase one capability that can only alert dispatchers to the general area of a call.

An upgrade to phase two would make it possible to pinpoint a caller's location. The improvements carry a number of benefits but one possibly life-saving change--a drastic decrease in response times.

Right now Callaway County commissioners are in the process of getting bids on the equipment that will carry a heavy price tag.

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 services. Missouri voters have voted down ballot measures to raise 911 taxes twice previously.

The hearings on the 911 system are being held by a special legislative committee. There are expected to be more throughout the state in the future.

Missouri 911 System Among Worst In US KMIZ TV Top Story

2007-08-06T22:34:00.001-05:00

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

Problems with Missouri's 911 systems are under the microscope.

Right now 18 counties do not have landline 911 service and half of Missouri's counties lack the ability to track cell phone calls at all.

The state public safety director is calling for a 75 cent fee on cell phone bills to help improve 911 services from cell phones.

We found out that some of the 911 systems that need the most improvements are right here in Mid-Missouri.

The lack of service for cell phones is a growing problem because the majority of 911 calls are now made from mobile phones.

In Mid-Missouri, if you're Callaway, Cole, Randolph, Montgomery or Saline counties it's difficult for dispatchers to trace the call.

"We have one of the worst systems in the nation. There is a two-thirds chance that if you were to dial 911 from a cell phone in the state of Missouri that you would not be found by public safety officials," says Mark James, Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Right now Callaway County has phase one capability that can only alert dispatchers to the general area of a call.

An upgrade to phase two would make it possible to pinpoint a caller's location. The improvements carry a number of benefits but one possibly life-saving change--a drastic decrease in response times.

Right now Callaway County commissioners are in the process of getting bids on the equipment that will carry a heavy price tag.

Missouri is the only state without a statewide fee or tax for wireless 911 services. Missouri voters have voted down ballot measures to raise 911 taxes twice previously.

The hearings on the 911 system are being held by a special legislative committee. There are expected to be more throughout the state in the future.

Missouri 911 System Not Cell-Ready TOP STORY KOMU TV 8 NEWS

2007-08-06T22:29:00.001-05:00

MID-MISSOURI - If you are in the wrong place, making an emergency call from a cell phone could be dangerous.

When you think 911, you think fast emergency service, but it depends on where you are calling from.

The more cell phones, the more problems for Missouri's 911 system.

There's a greater than 2 out of 3 chance that emergency responders can not find you if you are calling 911 from a cell phone in Missouri.

Emergency responders throughout the state say response time is hindered significantly for those calling in on a cell phone.

"Those cell phones that are calling in, we are not able to track by either telephone number or location and where they're at," said Kevin Bond, Pettis County sheriff.

Counties across the state are at different levels of technology phases when it comes to reading cell phone information.

Most counties are at phase zero, meaning emergency services don't know anything about the caller.

Only a few are at phase one, which only sends the telephone number. Phase two sends the number and a broad location.

Emergency 911 centers are struggling with updates because operators say there isn't' enough money.

"Most counties are real tight on money, so they can barely handle the land line system as it exists. So, when you come along with cell phones and you need more equipment, they don't have the money," said Claude Brandon, 911 coordinator.

A big part of the 911 service funding comes from land line phone taxes, and fewer people are using that service because of cell phones.

Voters across the state rejected a bill twice that would charge a similar fee with cell phone service.

For more surprising facts about Missouri's 911 system, click on the story links above. The first will guide you to talking points from the Missouri 911 Infrastructure Assessment.

The assessment, provided by the National Emergency Number Association, brings to light specific problems with Missouri's system and possible solutions.

TOP STORY KOMU NEWS - 911 System Not Cell-Ready

2007-08-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

MID-MISSOURI - If you are in the wrong place, making an emergency call from a cell phone could be dangerous.

When you think 911, you think fast emergency service, but it depends on where you are calling from. The more cell phones, the more problems for Missouri's 911 system.

There's a greater than 2 out of 3 chance that emergency responders can not find you if you are calling 911 from a cell phone in Missouri. Emergency responders throughout the state say response time is hindered significantly for those calling in on a cell phone.

"Those cell phones that are calling in, we are not able to track by either telephone number or location and where they're at," said Kevin Bond, Pettis County sheriff.

Counties across the state are at different levels of technology phases when it comes to reading cell phone information.

Most counties are at phase zero, meaning emergency services don't know anything about the caller. Only a few are at phase one, which only sends the telephone number. Phase two sends the number and a broad location.

Emergency 911 centers are struggling with updates because operators say there isn't' enough money.

"Most counties are real tight on money, so they can barely handle the land line system as it exists. So, when you come along with cell phones and you need more equipment, they don't have the money," said Claude Brandon, 911 coordinator.

A big part of the 911 service funding comes from land line phone taxes, and fewer people are using that service because of cell phones.

Voters across the state rejected a bill twice that would charge a similar fee with cell phone service.

WARNING: 17 COUNTIES IN MISSOURI HAVE NO 911 AS WE KNOW IT

2007-08-06T22:26:00.001-05:00

MERCER
SCHUYLER
SCOTLAND
CLARK
BATES
CEDAR
OZARK
DOUGLAS
OZARK
SHANNON
OREGON
IRON
REYNOLDS
CARTER
RIPLEY
WAYNE
BOLLINGER