I grew up with Dial 911 for Emergency. They create a standardized system (government) and then fail to provide to the people. They don't care that their stat's aren't 100%. That is recockulous.

What I want the slogan to be: "Shoot first, then dial 911" ("30 minutes or it's free")

Hmm. Never had a problem in Anoka County.

I'll bet it would be illegal to just call and lie. It might not be as illegal if they ask questions and you lie...

INAL!

Supreme Court Justices Debate Admissibility of Statements to 911 Operators

By Toni Locy
The Associated Press
03-21-2006

The Supreme Court considered Monday whether statements made by victims to 911 operators and police officers at crime scenes should be barred as evidence because they were not made under oath or subjected to cross-examination by a defendant.

In cases from Washington and Indiana, the justices focused on whether the rights of Adrian Davis and Hershel Hammon were violated because their accusers did not testify at their trials.

The issue is significant because the high court's ruling could affect the ability of prosecutors to bring criminal charges -- particularly in domestic violence cases -- when victims or key witnesses are not willing or not available to testify.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that "many women in these situations are scared to death" and don't want to testify.

Ginsburg also recalled that "it wasn't so long ago" that police wouldn't bother trying to gather evidence to prosecute cases of domestic abuse.

She worried aloud that if the justices issue a ruling that police consider more trouble than their efforts are worth, officers might wonder why they should bother pursuing domestic violence cases.

Lawyers on all sides of the cases -- as well as the Bush administration -- want the justices to clarify a 2004 decision that barred prosecutors' use of statements from victims or witnesses if a defendant did not have a chance to question them in court.

Justice Antonin Scalia, the author of the 2004 majority ruling, grilled lawyers for Washington and Indiana about a defendant's right to confront his or her accuser.

Scalia worried about what would happen to defendants who were charged with crimes based on "false" statements from witnesses who never testified. And he wondered whether 911 operators, by asking so many questions of victims, aren't being used by police as "a prosecutorial device."

James M. Whisman, senior prosecuting attorney in Seattle, conceded the 911 tape was "powerful" evidence of the abuse victim Michelle McCottry said she endured at Davis' hands.

"Powerful is part of the problem," Scalia said. "To hear her voice on the phone ... it makes it an even more damaging violation" of the defendant's right to confront his accuser.

At Davis' trial, a judge allowed the tape of McCottry's February 2001 emergency call to be admitted into evidence but barred police testimony about what McCottry had said to officers. She disappeared before trial and did not testify despite a subpoena.

In the other case out of Peru, Ind., Amy Hammon also did not testify. But a judge allowed a police officer to testify that she had told him that her husband, Hershel, had thrown her into the glass panel of a gas heater.

Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to give prosecutors and police the benefit of the doubt in both cases.

Roberts was skeptical when Davis' lawyer suggested that prosecutors, armed with powerful 911 tapes, might keep "bad" witnesses off the stand to win their cases.

And the chief justice said police officers have mixed motives in trying to protect victims and build criminal cases.

Jeffrey L. Fisher, who represents Davis, told the justices it's not always easy to determine when police officers stop protecting victims and when they begin gathering evidence to support criminal charges.

The cases are Davis v. Washington, 05-5224, and Hammon v. Indiana, 05-5705.

Who was it that was telling the story about how they came home to their house being robbed and noticed a truck in the driveway and people carrying out belongings. They called 9-11 from their vehicle out on the street and were told that the police were busy, and a unit could be there in about 30-45 minutes.

They called back and said to the operator something to the effect of: "we drove up the driveway, confronted, then shot the robbers we just called you about" and the cops got there in 3 minutes, just in time to arrest the burglars. (they didn't actually shoot them of course)



FWIW, I don't know if it's a true story, and I don't think it's legal to call 9-11 and lie, despite the fact that the police can lie to you.

Call and no answer shows you tried. Take care of it and then call 911 again and say where the beep where you guys. I just had to shoot at someone because you did not answer the phone!

Remember the police have no requirement to save you! They will thy to find the perp but does you no good after the fact.