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Comment by Eumenes | Hacker News Reader

I feel for the poor dispatchers who'll have to deal with bickering idiots on video discussing domestic/civil disputes.

I support a PSAP (a Public Safety Answering Point, aka a 911 call center). There's no way I could do the work the telecommunicators do. No way. Between the bullshit they have to deal with and the horrifying psychologically-damaging calls... No way.

I can see that video would be helpful in some cases. Having listened to a ton of calls during my work, though, I think the calls where video would make a difference versus a distraction will be few.

I'm interested in the receiving infrastructure. All of the video will need to be recorded (at least in my state) and retained for an established period of time (90 days here). The PSAP networks are already a twisty maze of VLANs and firewalls (in my PSAP each workstation has multiple PCs plugged-in to different networks with different network and PC security policies).

How much bullshit is there and how often are there consequences for this?

I don’t often read about anyone actually being fined for wrong, unnecessary or petty emergency calls

Local news the other day: a couple in their 60s forgot where they placed their parking ticket and called police which then came by and ordered the attendant to let them drive out for free. No consequences

Did they call the police or 911? There is a big difference between the two.

It also varies wildly in different jurisdictions. My local police department's "main line" advises calling 911 even for non-emergency calls. I wanted to make a noise compliant one night but chickened-out because I didn't think it was appropriate to call 911 for that.

It’s wild someone would call the police for this but it’s also wild that this would be in the news. Couple Freed From Car Park By Police After Losing Ticket.

I don't have a statistic for number of bullshit calls in our PSAP. I'd say "a lot" in terms of number of calls from the time I've spent in the dispatch room overhearing calls while working issues. In terms of time spent on the phone it's probably not significant. Most of the bogus calls I've heard end fairly quickly. The telecommunicators are, presumably, trained to get those people off the phone fast.

My sense is the staff here don't involve law enforcement on inappropriate calls unless there's a significant number of repeat calls, the caller is being abusive to the telecommunicator, or the caller confesses to a significant crime during the course of the call. I don't think there are consequences very often but, again, I have no statistics.

There are probably published statistics. I know our PSAP generates stats that get rolled-up into at least regional, if not national, reporting.

That doesn’t sound like a misuse of 911. A parking fee dispute is a civil matter. It doesn’t allow the parking attendant to hold people against their will.

Realistically, the most they are going to do is ban them from parking there in the future.

(This was not in the US)

I would say the people are free to leave but the car stays until they pay and that this is part of how every parking business operates. Otherwise, why pay?

Every parking lot I’ve ever been to clearly states the price for a new ticket when you lose yours. Usually something like the maximum rate for an entire day but it depends. Long term parking at the airport for example might be higher than that

They felt mistreated over their own mistake of forgetting in which pocket they put the ticket. Nothing more

I think getting a recorded, time stamped record will have a lot of value for investigations. Right now, people often have to decide between recording and calling 911.

Yes, maybe the phone can already do both but people are going to have a hard time figuring out how under pressure.

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