Dial 911 and Report a Congressional Empty Promise: The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999
2001; Volume: 54; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2376-4457
Autores Tópico(s)ICT Impact and Policies
ResumoI. INTRODUCTION On Thanksgiving Day 1997, Greg and Luann Bertaux were traveling from their Kansas home to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, when they observed a nearby green minivan darting dangerously in and out of traffic along U.S. 71 near Carthage, Missouri. (1) Thinking that the driver was inebriated, Mrs. Bertaux picked up her cellular phone and dialed 911 to alert Missouri police. (2) Her call succeeded in reaching the Joplin Police Department, but shortly after connecting, a recorded message instructed her to hold for an attendant who never answered the phone. (3) Bertaux tired of waiting for an operator in Joplin and dialed information in an attempt to learn the phone number for an approaching town's police department. (4) Again, she failed to reach the proper authorities, (5) Her third attempt to alert emergency personnel of the minivan's dangerous driver finally reached local police officers. By the time officials could set up a roadblock, however, the green minivan had already smashed head-on with another automobile and killed three people, including a two-year-old child. (6) Sadly, had Mrs. Bertaux reached Missouri police on her first attempt, these deaths might have been avoided. (7) Yet neither the Bertaux couple nor the majority of Missourians surveyed at that time were aware that *55 was the official cellular number to dial in that state for emergency assistance--not 911. (8) This avoidable tragedy was but one of the more significant considerations driving Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt and Congresswoman Pat Danner's push for legislation to establish 911 as the nationwide telephone number for emergency assistance. (9) Members of both the House and the Senate drafted similar measures to accomplish this objective during the 106th Congress, and Senators John McCain of Arizona and Conrad Bums of Montana introduced the bill that eventually became the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 (the 911 Act) on April 14, 1999. (10) After the House approved the Senate's version of the Act by a vote of 424-2, President Clinton signed the measure into law on October 26, 1999. (11) Designed to promote the prompt deployment of a seamless emergency services infrastructure to meet the nation's safety needs, the 911 Act not only instructs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assign the abbreviated dialing code 911 for use as the universal emergency telephone number, but also directs the FCC to establish appropriate transition periods for compliance in areas without 911 service. Furthermore, the 911 Act supports individual states' efforts to develop comprehensive emergency communications. (12) Although improving the 911 system and saving lives by developing an end-to-end emergency communications network are commendable goals, this Note argues that the anemic 911 Act is an important first step, but accomplishes little beyond merely establishing 911 as the universal emergency telephone number. Part II of this Note addresses the history and background of the 911 calling system while Part III presents, in detail, the Act itself. Part IV evaluates the 911 Act's potential ability to meet the nation's safety needs in light of its weaknesses. Finally, Part V asserts the specific changes and improvements needed for the 911 Act to adhere to its promise of enhanced public safety. II. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF 911 TECHNOLOGY Great Britain developed the first three-digit emergency telephone number in 1937 to provide its citizens with an avenue to notify the appropriate authorities quickly and easily in an emergency. (13) At the urging of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement, AT&T pioneered the United States' 911 system in the late 1960s and employed it in Haleyville, Alabama. (14) With help from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, other local governments and municipalities soon followed Haleyville's lead, and today some configuration of 911 service is available on more than eighty-nine percent of the nation's wirelines. …
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