BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 911|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 911
Author: Dunn (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SEN. ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMERCE COMMITTEE : 10-0, 4/5/05
AYES: Escutia, Alarcon, Battin, Bowen, Campbell, Cox,
Dunn, Kehoe, Murray, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow
SUBJECT : Telecommunications: 911 system
SOURCE : California State Sheriffs Association
California National Emergency Number
Association
DIGEST : This bill allows 911 calls coming from highways
which are the State Department of the California Highway
Patrols (CHP) jurisdiction to be routed to non-CHP public
safety agencies.
ANALYSIS : Current law requires most emergency 911
telephone calls made from cellphones to be answered by the
CHP. An alternative public safety agency (e.g,. a county
Sheriff) can answer the call if the call originates from a
location other than a highway or county road under the
CHP's jurisdiction, provided that the CHP, the State
Department of General Services, and the alternative public
safety agency all agree that to do so would be in the
public interest.
CONTINUED
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This bill allows the 911 call to be answered by an
alternative public safety agency if the call originates
from a location other than a freeway.
Background
Since 1984, when cellular telephone service was introduced,
all 911 calls from cellular telephones have been answered
by the CHP. At that time a cellphone caller could not be
automatically located, so the presumption was that the
caller was calling from the freeway, which is the CHP's
jurisdiction. If the call instead came from a location
which was not the CHP's jurisdiction, such as on a city
street, the CHP would forward the call to the proper public
safety agency. The forwarding of calls is problematic for
911 response because it slows the emergency response, the
extra handling can cause important information to be
dropped (e.g. calling number or caller location), and it
creates extra work for the CHP to forward the call.
Directly connecting the cellphone 911 call to the
responding public safety agency would speed emergency
response and eliminate unnecessary work by the CHP.
In recent years technological advancements have made it
possible to locate the caller; cellphone companies and
handset manufacturers are required by federal regulations
to implement the technology. The ability to locate the
cellular 911 caller makes it possible to directly connect
the call to the public safety agency responsible for the
emergency response. In 1999, when cellular companies were
first implementing the location identification technology,
legislation authorized cellular 911 calls to be routed
directly to local public safety agencies (AB 1263
[Thomson], Chapter 981, Statutes of 2000). This direct
local routing was permitted only if the call came from an
area that was not the CHP's jurisdiction and if the CHP,
the local public safety agency, and the Department of
General Services, who administers California's 911 program,
all agreed that to do so would be in the public interest.
All in-state telephone calls are assessed a surcharge which
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raises about $130 annually million to pay for the 911
service. This surcharge pays for the equipment and
associated telecommunications services necessary to answer
the calls. It does not pay for dispatchers.
The number of cellular 911 calls continues to rise, from
about 3 million calls in 1997 to 7.8 million calls in 2004.
About 1 million of those 7.8 million calls had to be
transferred to other public safety agencies.
Comments
This bill changes state policy to allow 911 calls coming
from highways which are the CHP's jurisdiction to be routed
to non-CHP public safety agencies. The requirement that
such routing can occur only with the consent of the CHP and
local public safety agencies is unchanged.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/6/05)
California State Sheriffs' Association (co-source)
California National Emergency Number Association
(co-source)
Alameda County Sheriff's Department
Calaveras County Sheriff's Department
California Fire Chiefs Association
Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department
El Dorado County Sheriff's Department
Fire Districts Association
Imperial County Sheriff's Department
Kern County Sheriff's Department
Kings County Sheriff's Department
Merced County Sheriff's Department
Plumas County Sheriff's Department
San Diego County Sheriff's Department
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department
Shasta County Sheriff's Department
Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department
Tuolumne County Sheriff's Department
Yuba County Sheriff's Department
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NC:cm 4/6/05 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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