Politics

Politics

by Mike Masnick





Where Did All That E911 Money Go?

For years, New York has been collecting monthly fees on mobile phone plans that was designated to go towards implementing the E911 system that would let police determine the location of a mobile phone caller. In the wake of a recent boating accident in NY where a caller on a mobile couldn't let police know where he was, people are starting to ask what happened to all that money? It turns out that the vast majority of it was "diverted" to other uses within police departments. So, now, as we wait for the E911 systesm that have been "mandated" it turns out that the money earmarked to build the system was put into "departmental dry cleaning bills, ballpoint pens, travel, car leases, grounds maintenance for precincts and winter boots".

3 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. Wow

    by First Poster - Apr 18th, 2003 @ 2:46am

    Gotta love those crooked cops.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Re: Wow

    by DS - Feb 6th, 2009 @ 8:13am

    Crooked Cops? More like Crooked Gov't.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. RE: WOW

    by NC - Feb 6th, 2009 @ 7:11pm

    For what it's worth, the E911 funds in North Carolina are restricted by state law to ONLY be used for activities that support the receiving and dispatching of 911 calls. There's a 911 board that provides oversight for how the funds are being spent. Perhaps the problem in NY isn't the local gov'ts diverting the cash to supplement strapped operational budgets, but NY state gov's lack of a governance structure for the E911 program. You can't expect your kids to stay out of the cookie jar unless you tell them it's off limits to begin with.

    /rambling diatribe off

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
Search Techdirt Wireless
And now, a word from our Sponsors..
Subscribe to the Techdirt Wireless Newsletter

Techdirt Wireless Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It