BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
An estimated 65 percent of the public will need to call the 91l emergency system in their lifetime, according to Cincinnati communication section officials.
But a number of those calls are inappropriate and taxing, such as requests for directions or reports of stray dogs.
The use of the city's 911 -- a system that handled 920,000 calls last year -- was the topic Monday night during a public hearing on the emergency response system. Fewer than two dozen residents showed for the meeting, called by Councilman Charlie Winburn. The two residents to address the Law and Public Safety Committee during the meeting at the Westwood Town Hall thought an educational effort was needed.
"I would make a widespread public education program for the people of the city, to educate them. . . on what to use 911 for and what it's all about," said Forrest L. Buckley, a former Cincinnati firefighter and former head of the firefighters union.
Gloria Morgan, a Price Hill activist and member of a 911 Steering Committee, said she was "simply amazed" by the work of Cincinnati 911 operators and said they did a fabulous job. It is the general public, she said, that needs to learn the system.
"I believe that city council should take the responsibility upon themselves to do a door-to-door campaign. . to educate the public as to what 911 is all about," she said.
The 911 system was launched nationally in 1968. It took more than a decade -- and widespread promotions -- to make the three digits familiar in all U.S. households.
"My own sense is that 911 has been around long enough that people have a fairly sophisticated sense of what they do and why they do it," said Councilman Tyrone Yates, chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee.
An alternative 311 system for non-emergency police calls was not addressed during the meeting but has come up in prior discussions. The misuse of the 911 system prompted the Federal Communications Commission to set up a 311 universal system last year.
Concerns locally are rooted in communications errors that led to a 47-minute delay in response to the fatal shootings of two Cincinnati police officers in December. In March, Cincinnati City Manager John Shirey fired two 911 workers for making "egregious" errors that night.
Efforts have since been made to reassure citizens that the 911 system works.
