Article

2010-03-01 Economy

Californian cities charging for 911 calls

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Posted by tipper 2010-03-01 15:39|| || Front Page|| [11135 views ] Top

#1 They're contemplating this here in Wisconsin for some metropolitan areas, too.

Kinda slaps the 'Good Samaritan' right out of you, doesn't it?

Posted by Mullah Richard 2010-03-01 15:51|| 2010-03-01 15:51|| Front Page Top

#2 Do they charge me $300 if I call 911 to report that my neighbor's house is on fire?

Posted by Steve White 2010-03-01 16:35|| 2010-03-01 16:35|| Front Page Top

#3 Steve, you don't expect your neighbor to pay it do you?

Posted by Rambler in Virginia 2010-03-01 16:37|| 2010-03-01 16:37|| Front Page Top

#4 Let me get this straight, I live in Loma Linda and I pay taxes which pay for the police and fire departments, but I have to pay an additional, voluntary fee, to actually ask for the services for which I pay, or get charged an exhorbitant fee in an emergency.
I guess the city has no choice since they STOPPED paying for everything else and still were short of money? Oh wait, they still have other things? Fire the city council, mayor and any other idiot that instituted this then, and save the fees that way!

Posted by NoMoreBS 2010-03-01 16:53|| 2010-03-01 16:53|| Front Page Top

#5 Y'all don't have a 911 charge included on your phone bill already?

Posted by swksvolFF 2010-03-01 17:32|| 2010-03-01 17:32|| Front Page Top

#6 This was posted from Tracey a few weeks ago. Looks like it will be rolled out all across CA over the next few months. Great shakedown.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2010-03-01 17:36|| 2010-03-01 17:36|| Front Page Top

#7 I guess they have had too many of the following calls:

A man in Texas called 911 several times to make a date with the 911 operator. A guy in Florida called 911 because the sandwich shop made his pastrami wrong. A woman, also in Florida, called 911 to complain when McDonald's ran out of chicken nuggets.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-03-01 17:41|| 2010-03-01 17:41|| Front Page Top

#8 "Y'all don't have a 911 charge included on your phone bill already?"

swksvolFF, that's a 'tax'. This is a 'fee'. They hope you don't realize that there's no difference between the two.

Posted by Mullah Richard 2010-03-01 18:08|| 2010-03-01 18:08|| Front Page Top

#9 Gottit Mullah Richard, thanks. Just wanted to make sure that this deal is in addition to the 911 phone bill tax, and wages paid by taxes etc before stating, as a firefighter, how fucking stupid this is. It will destroy property and put people's lives at risk as witnesses dither about who will be charged or just not report fires at all. I cannot emphasise enough the difference 5 minutes can make to a fire response; or vehicle rescue for that matter, or as a first responder to an incident there have been a number of times the first vehicle I see pull up to a fight at a club is the fire department (emt training, not hospital serious emergency).

Posted by swksvolFF 2010-03-01 18:32|| 2010-03-01 18:32|| Front Page Top

#10 So if you don't pay the fee, do they let your house burn down? If you don't pay the fee, can you get home owner's insurance?

Posted by JohnQC 2010-03-01 19:05|| 2010-03-01 19:05|| Front Page Top

#11 "Great shakedown."

Since Californicastan is one of the most
bankrupt "State" of the world, far more
than Greece or Ireland, the question is
who's gonna shakedown who?

Posted by Hotspur666 2010-03-01 20:57|| 2010-03-01 20:57|| Front Page Top

#12 Call from a pay phone.

Posted by Iblis 2010-03-01 21:47|| 2010-03-01 21:47|| Front Page Top

#13 I'm sorry the number as dialed can not be completed. Please deposit $300.

Posted by Automated Voice 2010-03-01 22:41|| 2010-03-01 22:41|| Front Page Top

#14 So one neighbor or a pair of neighbors pay the $48 fee and instead of everyone else calling 911, you contact the neighbor who in turn calls 911. Back to the days when not everyone had a phone. Good reason to have the phone company bring back old fashion party lines to the hood. Probably still on the regulatory books.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-03-01 22:48|| 2010-03-01 22:48|| Front Page Top

#15 Well, you didn't expect them to cut funds from their "diversity commissions" and "outreach" to "underserved populations", did you?

Posted by Cornsilk Blondie 2010-03-01 23:10|| 2010-03-01 23:10|| Front Page Top

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