Hochul pens 911 texting bill

TONAWANDA, NY — A phone call to 911 can bring you help within minutes. A text message to 911, however, might never bring help at all.

“The problem is that younger society is unaware that they can’t text 911,” Niagara County Sheriff James Voutour said Friday.

That’s a problem Congresswoman Kathy Hochul, D-Amherst, wants to fix.

On Thursday, the 26th District congresswoman introduced the Allowing Local Emergency Response Technicians to Accept Cellular Texts Act, or A.L.E.R.T. A.C.T., which calls for the enhancement of 911 communications systems by updating the texting capabilities of call centers and mandating new rules for cellular phone providers.

The bill follows a recent tour Hochul took of four 911 call centers throughout the 26th District to learn the ins and outs of the system, according to Hochul’s spokesperson Fabien Levy.

The bill has two distinct provisions, the first calling for cellular service providers to alert users who text 911 that their message did not go through.

“This bill will ensure that in an emergency situation, Americans will not be waiting for help that’s not on the way,” Hochul said.

The second provision would require the Department of Homeland Security, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to dedicate at least 10 percent of existing emergency management performance grants to Next Generation 911 upgrades for Public Safety Answering Points.

Hochul has already discussed the bill with representatives from DHS and FEMA, according to her spokesman, Fabien Levy.

“It’s a sign of the times that we need to get that updated,” Voutour said. “It’s coming and (Hochul is) kind of taking a leadership-type stance to get it working.”

“Erie County is in the process of upgrading its call center to next generation 911,” said Greg Skibitsky, Commissioner of Erie County Emergency Services. “Congresswoman Hochul’s legislation couldn’t come at a more perfect time since we cannot implement text messaging until the standards for SMS are adopted and the regulations are put into place.”

Hochul said, “Think of the thousands of lives that could be saved with a simple text message in a situation where a phone call can’t be made.”

The congresswoman is seeking co-sponsors for the bill, but “no one has officially signed on (yet),” Levy said.

Read the story here.

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