Chip Will Track 911 Cell Phone Calls
Local police departments in Massachusetts will be able to track the exact location of a 911 cell phone call using latitude and longitude, as a result of the 1996 Wireless E-911 system mandate of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC mandate requires cell phone companies to provide technology to local police that will allow them to track 911 cell phone calls.
Barnstable Police Department Sgt. Sean Sweeney says the global positioning system chip is the type of tracking equipment that will satisfy the FCC requirement.
According to Peter Ostroskey, deputy director of the Massachusetts Statewide Emergency Telecommunications Board, the process of determining the exact location of a 911 cell phone caller would take seconds, with the cell phone carrier passing along the location of the placed call to local police in the area.
The cell phone tower “reads the location, and gets to the closest couple of centimeters,” explains Truro Police Lt. John Lundborn. “We can find someone very quickly.”
Cingular Wireless takes a similar approach, but triangulation systems do not work in dead spots where there are no wireless towers to provide cell phone service.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Cape Cod Times (07/05/05); Alaimo, Jessica.