Greetings everybody! Happy late summer to one and all! What a beautiful time of the year – harvest time, football season, many of my favorite things. Today, however, I want to bring a much more serious topic to Copcorner.net than life’s good stuff. Today, I have a gripe. No, a big gripe. I apologize for being very blunt in this article but the topic demands it.
Did you happen to see the news article on MSNBC.Com dated August 5th, 2008? If you did, it had to shock you. It is entitled “911 System Choking on Non-Emergency Calls”. If you haven’t read it, please go there and do so. Sorry to say it did not shock me because I have worked for two years in our Communications Section and I am painfully familiar with this flavor of stupidity. Within the first few hours of working the phones, it is obvious that there is an element in society that is flat out lazy minded, refuses to use their brain or exercise a modicum of common sense when contacting public safety services. I have nothing but the highest comtempt for these types of people.
Most everyday folks will never have occasion to call for emergency services. Their lives are rarely touched by tragedy, criminality or a need for help by public emergency services. Also, most people are adept enough to react correctly to emergency situations and take appropriate action at the appropriate time. Let me take the time here to congratulate that portion of society for being those “who get it”!
However, it greatly disgusts me to say that there is a sizeable percentage who just “do not get it”, for whatever reason. The following is addressed to you. Clue in. The 9-1-1 rules are simple: the 9-1-1 emergency lines are for LIFE AND DEATH EMERGENCIES ONLY. Get it? Now, what does that mean? Again, clue in. That means: HEALTH EMERGENCIES (such as HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, FALLING OFF OF THE ROOF, CUTTING YOURSELF SEVERLY AND BLEEDING ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE, GETTING BITTEN BY A VICIOUS DOG), ANY INCIDENT WHERE LOSS OF LIFE COULD RESULT AND TIME IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. Got those? Also, TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INJURIES, A PEDESTRIAN GETTING RUN OVER BY A VEHICLE, A MOTORCYCLIST OR BICYCLIST GETTING HIT, ok? Got those? It also includes crimes against persons, such as ROBBERY (taking property from a person using force or fear), RAPE, ANY SEXUAL ASSAULT, KIDNAPPING, BURGLARY (where the structure could be occupied and the person inside could be assaulted or worse). Got those? I sure hope so…
Now, for what the 9-1-1 line does NOT include. Again, clue in. It DOES NOT include calling the police because your child will not obey and go off to school in the morning, or any type of civil dispute (all things non-criminal) such as Subway not putting enough pickles on your turkey sandwich (and that pisses you off!), an angry exchange of words between motorists because one of you was driving with a certain part of your body shoved up inside of another certain part of the same body, a simple request for information such as some program offered by your public service agencies, or a request for the business phone number for those same agencies. Or you’re calling because you lost your cell phone and don’t know what to do next. Get it? Or maybe a neighbor from down the street has parked his car in front of your house (which is legal on a public street, which everyone owns by the way!) and that steams you. Or how about the now infamous mega-idiot soccer mom from Mission Viejo, Ca., who went through a fast food drive through, obtained her order but was dissatisfied with something and called 9-1-1, demanding that an Orange County Deputy Sheriff respond immediately and refusing to move her SUV (well, of course!) in the meantime, thus disrupting the normal conduct of business at that location (see U-Tube). Do you doubt that those things actually happened? If so, shame on you! These are real life incidents and there are millions more of a similar nature.
Well, as always, here at Copcorner.net I ask you the question: What do you think? You’ve seen me use this expression before: I wish I had a dime for each time someone called 9-1-1 and began the conversation with “This really isn’t an emergency but…” Then, why did you dial 9-1-1 in the first place, moron? Weren’t you paying attention when somebody explained to you that to find everyday phone numbers you dial 4-1-1 (directory assistance), or for phone repair service you dial 6-1-1? What don’t you get about this? Do you know that things called phone books still exist, with listings for city, county, state and federal governmental agencies, all with their non-emergency business numbers properly listed? Do you know about on-line phone directories also? Sheesh, beyond that I can’t help you.
It’s sad to say that the MSNBC article pointed out that at some agencies, the percentage of frivilous and inappropriate calls make up close to 80% of the typical daily call volume. Imagine that! At my agency, that figure is at least 50-60 percent on any given day. How would you feel if you or a loved one truly needed an open 9-1-1 line to summon help and one of these professional idiots had it tied up for no good reason? The answer to that is painfully obvious.
Finally, did you know that all emergency communications are recorded and saved for a length of time? Did you know that the phone numbers, addresses and names of residents are displayed on a screen and also recorded? Did you know that cell phone numbers are too, and that under some circumstances the location of that phone can be tracked down using GPS? That is all true. So, if you are planning on being a 9-1-1 prankster, or thought about having fun on the emergency lines, think again. The police will be there soon and you could very well be prosecuted for your bad judgment.
Do you think this only happens in the U.S.? Think again, my friends. In February, 2007, I was visiting friends in the capital city of a major Latin American country with a population of close to 20 million. As is my custom, I was reading their local newspaper at the breakfast table. I hadn’t seen the article yet, but my friend pointed it out and asked me if we have the same problem here. What was the article about? It described the over three million non-emergency phone calls choking their 9-1-1 system for the year 2006. Imagine that.
For someone sitting around the house without enough to do (or a website to develop!) try calling major metro police departments around the world (please use their business lines!) and see if the story is the same. I know what I would expect, how about you?
Bottom line here folks, I truly hope that I’m preaching to the choir here at Copcorner.net. I hope my readers have had a good chuckle and maybe just gotten a subtle reminder to avoid being part of this daily problem for emergency services. I fervently hope that my readers are folks who “get it”. But if there are a few who are learning about this for the first time, well, that’s how it is. Try to put more mental effort into your next emergency or non-emergency contact in the future and pass the word that Copcorner.net is where you got the straight scoop. If in reading this rant, you properly utilize the 9-1-1 system in the future, then my work here is done…
Thanks for being here, my friends, and all the best until next time!
Tim
Greetings once again, dear readers! Today I am going to comment on a subject that tears the guts out of each and every working cop in our country today. All of us doing this work know that many thousands have fallen in the line of duty since this country was founded. However, based on the statistical figures from the first half of 2008, I hope that I can express a note of optimism, in a relative way of course. What I mean by that last sentence is that even though the raw data indicate that fewer peace officers have lost their lives in the line of duty so far this year, each and every death that we hear about and know something about kills us too. That emotion is never diminished, knowing that a dedicated officer made the ultimate sacrifice serving the American public. I would like for each and every survivor, be they a spouse, child, parent, immediate family member, significant other or friend to truly know that we in the law enforcement family always deeply grieve with you and yours each time news of another officer death travels through our community. There is no more somber time in my life than to see the American flag at half staff and see black bands on badges in honor of another fallen hero. Please, never forget that.
As with any social trend, numbers can be used to put tragic incidents into some sort of perspective. That will be no different here. My data comes from figures published in the current PORAC magazine. PORAC is the leading law enforcement publication here in California and the organization does an excellent job addressing current topics, training issues and contractual news. In short, PORAC looks out for us and most members of law enforcement in California are members. Their figures come from two very prestigious and reliable groups: The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and Concerns of Police Survivors. These groups make it their mission to track, memorialize and keep alive the memory of our fallen brothers and sisters. I give great thanks to them and others like them for keeping track of such a sad reality. Many, many thanks to all of you…
Now for the ray of optimism. Since January 1, 2008 thru June 30, 2008, a total of 59 peace officers had been killed in the line of duty across the U.S. How should we look at this figure? Let’s start by comparing it to other years first half totals. The research shows that this figure is the lowest for any year since 1965 when 55 peace officers died. So we can say that the first six months total is the lowest over the past 43 years. What about the recent past, say last year? The research shows that in 2007, the first half total was 100 even, and for the entire year 181 officers were killed. Both of those figures were very high. The recent trend is that more officers had been losing their lives doing police work so the figures thus far for 2008 are cause for optimism. Of course we should never forget that the figure for 2001 includes the many members of both the NYPD and the New York-New Jersey Port Authority Police who lost their lives in an act of terrorism.
It has been the topic of countless watch briefings, law enforcement articles and training bulletins that more officers lives have been taken in various ways. Generally, officer deaths are divided into two categories: felonious assaults (shootings, stabbings, beatings, etc) and on-duty accidents (vehicle crashes, pedestrian officers hit by vehicles, drownings, etc). For the past ten years the yearly number of deaths from accidents have outnumbered those from assaultive behavior. This fact may not be widely known to the public, especially those members of the public who absorb television and movies in large quantities. If your frame of reference is “Reno 911″, these facts may shock you. The reality of the job is that deaths occur in a wide variety of ways with little or no warning.
Where are these deaths occurring? The state of Texas experienced seven officer deaths in the first half of 2008, California had five, four in Georgia and three each in Ohio and Oklahoma. In toto, these 59 total deaths occurred in 26 different states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition, four federal officers were killed performing their duties.
How did these deaths occur? Well, thankfully, this year’s lower figure reflects fewer officer deaths in all categories, but especially in fatal shootings. In the first half of 2007, 38 officers were killed with guns, as compared to 21 in 2008. Those numbers reflect a 45 percent decrease and for 2008 the number is lower than for any year since 1960 when 18 officers were shot and killed in the first half of that year. Again, thankfully, accident related deaths were at 30 for this year compared to 46 last year, a decline of 35 percent.
The FBI is actually the last word on officer fatalities in this country. Their statistics can tell a very complete story. For instance, how many officers were killed making traffic stops, making arrests, responding to domestic violence, transporting prisoners, making subject stops, conducting follow-up investigations, etc. However, their data is not available in the same year it is compiled, due to compilation and analysis issues. Any readers interested in seeing more detailed information can go to their website or several others who keep track of that type of information. So check that out if it interests you. Please don’t lose sight of the fact that this information represents real people putting their lives on the line for our public safety and preservation of freedoms.
Finally, let me say that some officer deaths hit us especially hard. This may be due to the fact that someone we know may have known the victim officer personally, they may have worked nearby to us or were doing the same job that we are doing. Allow me to express my sorrow and outrage at an officer homicide that occurred recently here in the Los Angeles area. At 5:30 am one recent morning, Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Deputy Juan Escalante was gunned down in a cowardly drive-by shooting as he placed his work items in the trunk of his personal car on his way to work his shift at L.A. County Mens Jail. The shooters were probably gang members from Escalante’s neighborhood, who knew him from having grown up there and knew where he lived. Escalante was an exceptional deputy, a father of three young children and a veteran of the U.S. military. His family had been receiving death threats prior to his murder. He was clutching his duty weapon when he fell, knowing that this very thing could happen.
It is a death like that of Deputy Escalante’s that will show up as a number in statistics for 2008. But as you can see, that number is so much more. We in law enforcement will not rest until the killers of Juan Escalante are dealt with. And we will never forget his story. That is what the numbers mean to us.
A quick personal note:
As always, I want to thank each reader who has visited my site. It is still a work very much in progress. Thanks too for the growing number of comments from readers. Those of you who are working cops, I encourage you to leave rememberances of victim officers from your part of the country. This site will be even better when we all share the information.
I wish all of you a fun and relaxing summer. Be sure to enjoy your vacation time! All the best until next time, Tim