BILL ANALYSIS
SB 911
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 13, 2005
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE
Lloyd E. Levine, Chair
SB 911 (Dunn) - As Introduced: February 22, 2005
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Telecommunications:9-1-1 system.
SUMMARY : Allows a wireless 911 call to be answered by a public
safety agency other than the California Highway Patrol (CHP) if
the call originates from a location other than a freeway.
EXISTING LAW requires most emergency 911 telephone calls made
from cell phones to be answered by the CHP. An alternative
public safety agency (e.g. a local police department) 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 Department of General Services, and the
alternative public safety agency all agree that to do so would
be in the public interest.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office the intent of this
bill is to allow county 911 services to have 911 calls from
wireless phones routed directly to them if the call originates
from within their jurisdiction, instead of having the call
initially directed to the CHP. Current law allows for direct
routing of cell phone calls to city run 911 services, but not to
county run services.
1) Background : Since 1984, when wireless telephone service was
introduced, all 911 calls from cellular telephones have been
answered by the CHP. At that time a cell phone caller could not
be automatically located, so the presumption was made 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 appropriate 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
SB 911
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forward the call. Directly connecting the cell phone 911 call
to the responding public safety agency would speed emergency
response and eliminate unnecessary work by the CHP.
Technological advancements now make it possible to locate the
precise location of wireless phone user dialing 911. Federal
regulations require cell phone companies and handset
manufacturers 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 wireless companies were first implementing the
location identification technology, legislation authorized
wireless 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 within the CHP's jurisdiction and if
the CHP, the local public safety agency, and the Department of
General Services, all agreed that to do so would be in the
public interest. AB 1263 however, has been interpreted to allow
for the routing of wireless calls made from within a city's
jurisdiction to that city's emergency response center, but not
to allow the routing to calls from unincorporated areas to the
county's emergency response center. This bill will clarify that
a call from an unincorporated area may be relayed directly to
the county's emergency response center and not to the CHP.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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
Marin County Sheriff's Department
Merced County Sheriff's Department
Plumas County Sheriff's Department
SB 911
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San Bernardino 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
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Edward Randolph / U. & C. / (916)
319-2083