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Should 9-1-1 Calls Be Released?
9-1-1 in the News, Trends | Greg | March 3, 2010 at 11:13 am
Several states are now debating whether 9-1-1 calls should be treated as public records that can be released to the media.
The debate has received fresh attention in the wake of a recent incident in North Carolina. A woman called 9-1-1 after finding her daughter beaten to death in her driveway. After hearing a replay of her 9-1-1 call on a local news broadcast, she became so distraught that she vomited.
Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Wyoming already keep 9-1-1 recordings private. Lawmakers in Alabama, Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida are now looking at enacting similar legislation.
Supporters of this legislation say that making 9-1-1 calls public may scare people from calling the service for fear of their calls being publicized. Opponents of keeping 9-1-1 calls private say that prohibiting their release will allow government agencies to cover up calls where errors were made.
Several recent news stories on this topic are linked below:
States eye ban on public release of 911 calls (AP)
Florida House Weighing Ban On Releasing 911 Calls (CBS4)
Wisconsin lawmakers debating whether or not to release 911 emergency calls (Pierce County Herald)
Editorial: Silencing 911 Calls (Orlando Sentinel)
Poll: Would you still call 911? (Tallahassee Democrat)
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Why is this even being debated? There can’t be any reasonable argument to justify the routine release of 9-1-1 call recordings into the public domain. A caller to public safety should be entitled to privacy and calls should only be released under direction of a judicial process. Release to the media of calls such as the Tiger Woods case serve no purpose other than to fuel sensationalism and gossip. I wonder if the person who sanctioned the release of the North Carolina call considered the impact it could have on friends / relatives of the victim?