The Financial Impact of Abusing 911

An article written by Arizona State University revealed that the U.S. 911 system handles 500,000 calls daily, or about 183 million annually. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that it costs approximately $1,000 per month to staff 911 operators.

How many of those calls are used as weapons against protected classes? How many tax payer dollars fund over staffing 911 operating systems due to substantial non-emergency calls? How many of those calls resulted in deaths of African Americans that could have been avoided?

An article by Temple University noted a case study on the potential savings of limiting the amount of frivolous police calls, and the results were astounding. The article stated that: "In the first seven months following implementation of the new policy, police response to false alarms dropped a remarkable 90 percent. That decline translated to a direct savings to police of about $400,000. The reduction in false alarms enabled the Salt Lake police to respond more quickly to other emergencies, resulting in an overall decrease in average police response times from five minutes to three."

In 2011, an article was written by the Springfield New-Sun on the costly misuse of 911 calls, whether racially motivated or otherwise. It was reported that "emergency responders are being strained by such inappropriate 911 calls." It was further reported that Dayton, Ohio police issued 57 tickets in the year 2010 for abuse, which was an increase from the 34 issued in 2008.

It's time to act: The EIP Act