System Will Track Those Who Use Mobile Phones
By David Snyder, The Washington Post
Montgomery County, Md. -- Montgomery County 911 call takers can now pinpoint the location of emergency calls made from cellular phones, officials said last week as the county launched a new computerized tracking system that will allow police and firefighters to respond more precisely.
Montgomery is the third jurisdiction in Maryland and one of a handful in the Washington area to use such technology. The system was functional Feb. 8., but officials said they needed an additional two months to confirm with wireless companies that the service works.
The tracking system, part of a $175 million overhaul of the county’s emergency communications systems, displays a computerized map with the location of the cell-phone call and is accurate within about a city block, officials said. Previous technology allowed pinpointing only from the nearest cell tower, often miles away from where the call originated.
“There are going to be any number of cases where this is going to help us get to people quicker,” said Montgomery Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. “It’s going to help us to be able to do our job better.”
In order for the tracking system to work, cell phones must contain a computer chip that transmits the caller’s location to an appropriately equipped 911 call center. Only about 3 percent of cell phones have such technology, officials said. That number is expected to grow quickly in coming years as newer cell phones equipped with the microchip replace older models.
A recent mandate by the Federal Communications Commission requires most wireless telephone companies to install locating technology -- either global positioning satellite systems or global standard for mobile communications systems -- in new cell phones by Dec. 31, 2005.
“This is going to be a long-term process,” said Steve Souder, director of the Montgomery County 911 emergency communications center. “Over a period of a few years, one would hope that except for a few stragglers, everyone would have a GPS-enabled phone.”
Fifty-one percent of the 559,103 calls received last year by Montgomery 911 call takers came from cell phones, officials said.
Emergency call takers have for decades been able to precisely pinpoint the origin of 911 calls from conventional phones. As cell phones have become ubiquitous, the problem of pinpointing the location of the calls has mushroomed, officials said.
If, for example, an assault victim calls 911 but then quickly hangs up -- or has the phone knocked away -- police may know only within a mile or two where the victim called from.
“In the early 1990s it began to evidence itself as a significant and growing problem,” Souder said. “We were at a distinct disadvantage. . . . It took much longer for us to deal with [callers] and for [callers] to deal with us.”
In recent months, Talbot and Anne Arundel counties launched similar tracking systems. Alexandria was the first jurisdiction in the Washington area to institute the system, in June.
Four of the six wireless companies that operate in the Washington region -- T-Mobile, Cingular, Verizon and Sprint -- have tested Montgomery’s technology and confirmed that it works, Souder said. Two others, AT&T Wireless and Nextel, will begin testing in coming weeks, he said. AT&T Wireless and Nextel have received waivers from the FCC allowing them to miss the Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for installing the locating technology in all new cell phones, officials said.