By Jeremy Boren
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — People who call 911 to report a violent crime or noisy neighbor should not have to worry about personal information falling into the hands of a criminal bent on retaliation, according to the author of a bill that would exclude names, phone numbers and more from public records.
“People aren’t able to call 911 and know that their information can be kept anonymous,” said state Rep. Joe Hackett, R-Delaware. “If word gets out about a caller, it could hurt someone or it could hurt an investigation.”
Hackett’s bill to censor 911 callers’ names, phone numbers, addresses and locations from public records won unanimous approval from the House last week, a blow to open-record advocates who believe the proposal would make it difficult to hold emergency crews accountable for their performance.
“You need that to know if they’re doing a good job or a poor one,” said Deborah Musselman, director of government affairs at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, which opposes the bill.
Having the location and time of the call is key to judging response times, she said.
“If an emergency call took two minutes or if it took half an hour, it helps to know if (crews) went two blocks on a Sunday or 40 miles during rush hour,” Musselman said.
Hackett, a Delaware County detective-turned-legislator, acknowledged he does not know of a case in which a criminal tracked down a victim through 911 logs. His bill would allow the release of callers’ information via a court order.
Hackett said members of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Pennsylvania County Commissioners Association urged him to introduce the bill because of a commonwealth court ruling in February that established 911 callers’ addresses and cross streets as public information under the state’s 2008 Right-to-Know Law.
“It’s important that people have a general sense of security when they’re calling 911,” said Leah Wright, a spokeswoman for Service Employees International Union Local 668, which represents Allegheny County’s roughly 200 full-time dispatchers and supports the bill.
Identities of 911 callers often end up in court records. Dispatch locations are routinely announced over police scanners or displayed in real time on county dispatch websites.
Tim Baldwin, a Lancaster County 911 deputy director, said his department posts emergency calls online as they happen to cut down on media inquires. The department also takes steps to protect callers’ privacy.
“We give the cross streets. We don’t give the specific location, and we clean off callers’ information and any specifics about the call,” he said.
Musselman noted there are ways for domestic assault victims and tipsters to report crime anonymously outside of calling 911 -- through toll-free phone calls and online forms, for example.
Gary Allen, a former dispatcher of 20 years and editor of an online trade magazine, said Hackett’s bill is unusual.
Allen said callers he has dealt with generally are not worried about retaliation from criminals. They’re more concerned “the neighbor will find out they reported their barking dog,” he said.
The state Senate is not expected to consider the bill until fall, when lawmakers return from their summer recess.
Copyright 2011 Tribune Review Publishing Company