Officials Ponder Possible Solution to Misuse of 911

The calls come in about lost bicycles, loud stereos and parking tickets.

Some callers are just dialing for street directions.

So many people are misusing 911--the telephone number designated for local police emergencies--that the Federal Communications Commission has decided to allow police to use the number 311 nationwide for nonemergency situations.

Orange County law enforcement officials say that here, as elsewhere, the overwhelming majority of calls to 911 can hardly be considered to involve life-threatening emergencies, yet creation of a new 311 system may cost more than it's worth.

Although none of the county's police and fire departments currently has plans to implement new nonemergency telephone numbers, several--including the Sheriff's Department, the Orange County Fire Authority and the California Highway Patrol--are evaluating whether they should.

Central to the debate is the cost of such a system, which may require hiring additional telephone operators, and paying for an advertising campaign to publicize the new number.

"At this point, we just don't have a real clear handle on how it can be successfully implemented," said Capt. Scott Brown, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority, which receives about 15,000 911 calls per month.

When the 911 system was introduced, state funds helped pay part of the cost. So far, state officials have not decided to subsidize a 311 system, but a task force is evaluating that option along with others, said Leah Senitte, program manager for the state's 911 system.

"There are people looking into [the 311 system] to determine if it would be beneficial to do on a statewide basis," Senitte said. "Right now, all that is still in its infancy stage."

In the U.S. Senate, a proposal to allocate an annual $10 million to help implement 311 is being considered.

Even if funds are made available, law enforcement authorities wonder how they would go about educating the public about 311 use, especially since 911 is already so ingrained in people's lives.

"Education is one of the most difficult things to accomplish," said Richard Blansett, Fullerton police's crime analyst. "We're just now making headway in teaching people when and when not to use 911. If we implement 311, we'd have to start all over again."

Efforts to educate the public about 911 have taken years and are continuing.