Published: April 15, 2008 10:06 am      

Upgrade would help 911 trace cell-phone calls

Tracking criminals is getting a little easier.

Somerset County 911 plans to upgrade its ability to trace cell-phone calls.

“If you’re in your car following someone who has just robbed a bank and you call 911, we get you pinpointed at Union and North Center,” 911 Director Dave Fox said.

Every 30 seconds, the system automatically “rebids” to show the new location.

“We have that capability now, we just have to rebid it manually,” Fox said.

“The new version will do it itself.”

The guessing game of finding the location of a cell-phone caller ended last year for Cambria County dispatchers.

The Department of Emergency Management previously could locate only which tower was providing a caller’s phone service; the caller had to describe his location. Now dispatchers can pinpoint the location from which the call was made.

Cambria’s emergency center also can activate “reverse 911,” an automated system that sends a prerecorded message to every home that could be affected by an emergency such as major flooding or a terrorism incident.

Somerset County is looking to add a “reverse 911” system.

Ten years ago, the cost was pegged at $400,000, not counting system maintenance, said Rick Lohr, Somerset County emergency management director.

Twenty-five phones or more would be needed, plus year-round maintenance, he said.

“You can’t just call the telephone company and say we need 25 phone lines in five minutes, turn me on,” Lohr said.

Somerset emergency management officials would like to see a similar system for counties across Region 13, which covers 706 municipalities, 713 fire departments and 392 police departments.

“It would be a regional project where a lot of counties would get together, buy a system and share the phone lines,” Lohr said.

No plan is in the works yet for such a project, he said.