CHARLESTON, WV — The Kanawha County Metro 911 Board filed a motion with the state Public Service Commission to block efforts by the state police to set up a statewide non-emergency 311 system.

Board members decided to file the motion Monday, board president Kent Carper said.

Carper, who also serves as the Kanawha County Commission president, said a non emergency 311 system would only confuse people who are used to calling 911.

“We’ve built a unified 911 system to handle these calls,” Carper said.

Sgt. Michael Baylous, West Virginia State Police spokesman, would not comment on the board’s decision to intervene. But he defended the proposed system, saying it would work well for non-emergency situations.

“And it’s also a number that will allow people to get in touch with state police barracks without knowing the exact number, no matter where they are in the state,” Baylous said.

911 board members are also protesting the move because a statewide system would strip communities of the option to set up their own local non-emergency 311 exchange, according to the motion.

Another reason listed on the motion is the 311 exchange would not have the same features as a 911 system. For example, 911 centers have automated phone number identification features that allow the dispatcher to see the number calling the system.

“Accordingly, a misdirected call to 311 rather than 911 would result in a complete inability to locate the emergency,” the motion reads. “Such risk is intolerable.”

Carper also said the number of calls going to 311 would be substantially high.

Luke Blatt, state police director of communications, said during a previous interview that the agency plans to field all of the 311 calls using staff currently on hand.

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