Senate Bill S9150

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S9150

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to report-
ing a nonemergency incident to an organization having the function of
dealing with emergencies

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To prevent the misuse of 911 and other organizations that deal with
emergencies

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: The penal law is amended by adding a new section 240.49

§ 240.49 Reporting a nonemergency incident. A person is guilty of
reporting a nonemergency incident when, knowing the information
reported, conveyed or circulated to be a nonemergency situation, he or
she initiates or circulates a report or warning to an official or
quasi-official agency or organization having the function of dealing
              

with emergencies involving danger to life or property of an alleged
occurrence or impending occurrence of a nonemergency situation in which
it is unlikely that a threat to public safety will result.  Reporting a
nonemergency incident is a class B misdemeanor.

Section 2: This act shall take effect immediately

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This summer has left us with a distressing string of frivolous calls to
911 for selling water, cutting grass, or using the swimming pool.  Some-
one's personal comfortability with another has been the basis for the
majority of those calls, and not for any particular threat.

Calling 911 for non-emergencies poses a bigger threat to society in the
era of Trump. Oftentimes, officers reporting to a scene are deposited
into situations with limited information and if that information sounds
critical enough to law enforcement, they may respond with tactical
force. It takes less than seven seconds for a situation with few details
to escalate.

Furthermore, emergency services should be readily available for citizens
in eminent danger. Having 911 call centers continuously dispatching
Police, Fire or EMT services for non-emergencies leaves their resources
short if an actual emergency is reported at the same time.

This bill is not to discourage the intended use of 911, but to inhibit
it's blatant misuse.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately