“If the bill passes, we would get about $150,000 more annually,” said Lee County 911 Director Paul Harkins. “That would be significant for us. We could use it for increased technology or increased personnel staffing.
“We have 20,000 more dispatches than we did five years ago and it takes people.”
Senate Bill 2577 would change the way a $1 monthly surcharge on cellphones and other wireless devices is distributed. Currently, 31 percent goes into a fund created to repay phone carriers since they built the system infrastructure. The remainder goes to the local 911 systems, roughly 69 percent. With the state cell infrastructure more or less complete, the fund has grown to $31 million.
Under the new bill, the local 911 systems would receive 95 percent of the wireless surcharge. The legislature’s Senate Energy Committee is recommending phasing the change in over the next two years, adding 12.5 percent each year.
The additional funds won’t be enough for Harkins to upgrade the Lee County system to recognize the exact location of cellphones or allow 911 operators to receive text messages like with some high-tech systems. But the money will help deal with growing pains.
The proliferation of cellphones has spelled a significant increase in the number of calls to 911.
“Just a few years ago, if there was a car wreck, we might get one or two calls,” said Harkins. “Now, folks passing by will call as well. We normally get four or five calls, unless it is a really bad one.”
Newer cellphones equipped with GPS chips help operators determine where a cell caller is located. But not everyone has a new phone, said Harkins.
Along with cellphones, more people are using text messaging. Someone in a dangerous situation might be able to send a text to 911, where talking out loud is not an option — such as a home invasion.
“Texting is very important to the deaf community,” said Harkins. “Right now, if they want to call us, they have to use a TTY system (a specialized device that combines a telephone and a typewriter).”
Another consideration for expanding would be to increase the number of dedicated phone lines going to the 911 center in Saltillo.
“We have five trunk lines, which means we can handle five calls at once,” said Harkins. “The sixth caller will get a busy signal. But thankfully, we don’t run into that problem often.”
©2015 the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
