[November 20, 2008] Long Beach will start taking its 911 calls Tweet LONG BEACH, Nov 20, 2008 (Press-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The city of Long Beach is beginning to directly answer wireless 911 calls made within city limits, officials said Wednesday. For years, calls for service from cell phones have been patched through to the California Highway Patrol, which in turn transfers calls to a public safety agency. It's a detour that slows down precious response time, officials say. While most major Southern Californian cities have switched to taking emergency cell phone calls directly, Long Beach is one of the last to make the conversion, citing budget concerns and dispatcher workload. After careful planning and passing the city budget in September, Deputy City Manager Reggie Harrison said the city is now ready to move forward. "We expect residents and visitors to see an increase in response time over the next several months," Harrison said. Deputy Chief J.J. Craig said the city has begun phasing in cell phone calls by provider, starting with Verizon. The project is expected to be completed by March 2009. Craig said the department expects a call increase of about 20 to 30 percent, and will closely monitor the amount of workload placed on its current staff. Craig said the city prides itself in it quick response time and will continue to provide top-notch service. Twenty-one of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's 22 stations answer wireless 911 calls directly, said Sheriff's Lt. Mitchell McMahon. The only exception is Marina del Rey, which has no cell phone towers, McMahon added. The number of emergency calls have increased by about 30 percent, but the influx has been handled by existing staff, he said. The Los Angeles Police Department made the switch in 2006. Cell phone calls rerouted to the CHP stem from the early days of car phones, when most people called from the freeways, said Patricia Gray with the Los Angeles County Commission on Local Government Services. As more people began using mobile phones, CHP dispatchers were overloaded. "CHP became a bottleneck," Gray said. "Instead of being an assist they became a sea anchor." Gray said Long Beach is making a major step forward in public safety. "The biggest benefit to the public is that now they know their cell phone call is directly going to the local agency," she said. The CHP will continue answering wireless 911 calls made from or near freeways, regardless of city boundaries. In the event of a crime in progress or other emergency, the public should continue to call 911, regardless of whether they are using a land-line or wireless phone. [email protected], 562-499-1305 To see more of the Press-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.press-telegram.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Press-Telegram, Long Beach, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]