(Chicago, IL) -- July 26, 2010. As the City of Chicago’s 911 emergency service is struggling with 200,000 “non-service” calls each year, Governor Pat Quinn today signed a bill to boost penalties on individuals who place prank 911 calls.
“Making false calls to 9-1-1 can put our law enforcement officers and emergency responders in serious jeopardy and endangers public safety by straining resources,” said Quinn. “We must do everything we can to support the brave men and women who protect the public.”
The legislation, House Bill 6101, sponsored by State Rep. Lisa Dugan (D-Kankakee) and State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights), amends the law to make prank 911 prank calls a Class 4 felony punishable by one to three years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.
Chicago State Representatives Joe Lyons and Michael Zalewski also sponsored the bill.
The new law could bring some relief to Chicago’s beleaguered 911 emergency service which is under a relentless, daily barrage of prank calls.
"Around 200,000 calls a year we get for non-service," said Will Knight, spokesman for Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communication.
That totals more than 500 non-emergency calls a day.
Since 2005, more than a dozen people have been prosecuted under the current law, which is a Class 3 felony, for prank calls to Chicago’s 911 system.
Here is a transcript of one of the prank calls made by children:
Caller: "Hello."
Operator: "Yes?"
Caller: "Um, sorry, my kid, um…"
Operator: "No. you are the kid I was talking to. I need to speak to an adult or I'm going to send a policeman to your house."
Caller: "No, no. It's alright because my sister was…"
Operator: "Listen to me."
Chicago emergency dispatchers take more than 50 prank calls like that every day, according to Knight.
The city's 911 emergency information line takes about 5 million calls a year, compared to 4 million for 311.
The new law passed the Illinois General Assembly unanimously and takes effect Jan. 1, 2011.
Comments
Let me tell you, 911 ought to be scratched and started over in Chicago. You call... and the lady gives you a bunch of questions... by the time she listens to you, the emergency is beyond help! It's happened to me twice. Then, when I could finally speak, she needs to TRANSFER the call... HELPLESS and HOPELESS operation in Chicago - like everything else.
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