Police Officers Lose Their Mobile Phones

Surprises

from the no-more-calls dept

In a budget cutting effort, police in Oakland California are having their mobile phones taken away. Apparently, police on various beats were given mobile phones, which they used to stay in contact with people and organizations in the area they covered. It appears they gave out the numbers regularly, as they continually were dealing with incoming phone calls from residents reporting suspicious behaviors. So, not only were the phones removed for cost cutting reasons, but because the calls were beginning to become overwhelming. There is a reason that the police have a centralized dispatcher, and routing around it doesn’t always make sense. While it is a nice idea to give residents direct communication tools with those patrolling their neighborhoods, without an efficient means of routing those calls, it’s no surprise they quickly became overwhelming.