Law Proposes
To Reduced False 911 Calls With Heavy Fines
The Comisión Plena Primera del Congreso
(Congressional Committee) last night
approved the proposal to impose a heavy fine
for making false 911 calls. Under the
proprosal, a false call can cost the owner
of the telephone line the equivalent of 65%
of the base salary of a clerk (oficinista
1).
The high fine was suggested by the proposal
of the initiative, Fernando Sánchez, of the
Partido Liberacion Nacional (PLN).
Sánchez added that each subsequent false
call should cost the caller or owner of the
phone line, if different, an additional 5%
of each false call.
Currenlty, the fine is ˘65.000 colones and
is applied after 10 false calls are received
from the same phone line.
The proposal is to eliminate the large
number of 911 calls that are not an
emergency and tie up resources. The fines,
according to Sánchez would go towards
improving the emergency service.
The change in the legislation also allows
the emergency service to use the revenue
from the fines to improve services.
Currently, monies collected from fines can
only be applied to media educational
campaigns or subsidize the cost of units
responding to false calls.
The legislator explained that if his
proposal becomes law it would financially
help out the Cuerpo de Bomberos (firefigthers),
the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias
(national emergency commission) and the Cruz
Roja (Red Cross).
According to figures released by Fernando
Sánchez, in the last three months of this
year, the 911 emergency service received
10.866 false calls or 90% of all calls
received by the system. |
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