ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Virginia State Police on Thursday unveiled a new emergency phone number for cellular callers in the hope it will lessen the load of calls coming in to the overburdened cellular 911 system.
Callers can now reach state police from a cellular phone by pressing the pound sign, then 7-7, or by dialing 911. The pound-7-7 number goes only to state police, while 9-1-1 calls go to state police or local law enforcement.
``If they want us, they should call pound-7-7,'' State Police Superintendent Col. Wayne Huggins said at the First Division headquarters.
The new number was introduced because state police at times have been besieged by well-meaning callers reporting the same incident, or by people whose calls then had to be transferred to the appropriate local agency.
About two years ago in Tidewater, Huggins said, the state police received from 250 to 300 cellular 911 calls in a span of minutes, all to report that a naked man was walking down the median of Interstate 64.
Besides the large volume of calls, dispatchers must make sure each caller is referring to the same incident, a time-consuming process that could force another person in danger to wait.
``A few seconds in a life-and-death situation is a long time,'' he said. ``What we're trying to do is get the calls to the agency that can best handle the emergency and eliminate the middle man.''
The highway department has put signs throughout the state instructing drivers to call pound-7-7.
The state police conducted a two-week study in Tidewater over the summer and found that of the 8,342 cellular calls made to the agency's Fifth Division, three-fourths had to be transferred to other police departments.
Overall, about 60percent of 911 calls have to be transferred.
The new number is just one improvement in an ever-growing industry.
Cellular phone representatives said the Federal Communications Commission is requiring that wireless communication companies be able to pinpoint the location of cellular callers to within 400 feet in the next five years.
That technology would allow police to help callers unable to provide dispatchers with their location, or unable to otherwise communicate. It also would help stem the tide of crank calls police dispatchers receive.
In the past year, youths with cellular phones began calling dispatchers in Richmond to report fictitious bomb threats, Sgt. Kerry Stiles said. The callers knew their calls couldn't be traced, he said.
One problem that won't be solved by anything but education is when it's appropriate to dial an emergency number. Dispatchers often field calls about the weather, school and business closings and worse, Huggins said.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB