CHP'S 911 CALL DUTIES TO CHANGE.Byline: Stephanie Cain Staff Writer New legislation that will allow public safety agencies other than the California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). Highway Patrol highway patrol n. A state law enforcement organization whose police officers patrol the public highways. to field wireless 911 calls will go into effect Jan. 1. Assembly Bill 1263, authored by Assemblywoman as·sem·bly·wom·an n. A woman who is a member of a legislative assembly. Noun 1. assemblywoman - a woman assemblyman representative - a person who represents others Helen Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus, and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra. While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus and Polydeuces, but Castor and Pollux rescued her. Thomson, D, Vacaville, has been signed by Gov. Gray Davis. The bill wipes clean current law mandating that all wireless 911 calls be routed through the CHP CHP Chapter CHP Combined Heat and Power CHP California Highway Patrol CHP Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Turkish: Republican People's Party) CHP Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA) CHP Community Health Plan . Since the CHP must reroute all non-highway calls to local police and fire agencies, callers are often left hanging for minutes at a time while dispatchers struggle to deal with too many callers. The number of wireless 911 calls has exploded ex·plode v. ex·plod·ed, ex·plod·ing, ex·plodes v.intr. 1. To release mechanical, chemical, or nuclear energy by the sudden production of gases in a confined space: over the past 15 years, jumping 7,000 percent from 1984 to 1997, when the CHP handled more than 3 million of these calls. Of those 3 million calls, about 30 percent had to be transferred to a different agency because the CHP did not have jurisdiction over the particular emergency. ``Back (when the CHP first took responsibility for wireless 911 calls), anyone who used a cell phone probably had it hooked up in their car, so when the legislation said (the CHP would) take (wireless 911 calls) it was usually associated with something on a roadway,'' CHP Commissioner Dwight ``Spike'' Helmick said. The CHP responds to roadway emergencies but must farm out emergencies not in their jurisdiction to the appropriate agency. ``Now, we have someone on the golf course having a heart attack, or someone who has fallen into the pool in their back yard. There's no longer a nexus between the cell phone and the roadway,'' Helmick said. Thomson said she realized such legislation was needed through several tragedies that occurred in Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern , including one in which a South Davis family trying to report that their home was on fire was forced to wait while dispatchers transferred their call several times to the proper agency. ``It's just good common sense, and that's what the law should be about,'' Thomson said. Provided it is technologically feasible and benefits public safety, and provided the call in question originates outside the CHP's jurisdiction, AB 1263 will allow another agency to directly receive wireless 911 calls. Those provisions simply mean that different agencies need to begin working toward a solution, Thomson said. ``The CHP and local agencies need to sit down and pool their resources,'' Thomson said. ``We want them not to do their territoriality Territoriality Behavior patterns in which an animal actively defends a space or some other resource. One major advantage of territoriality is that it gives the territory holder exclusive access to the defended resource, which is generally associated with thing but to see what is the best way to provide this service.'' |
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