Floridians have this reputation for being easily confused. Remember the 2000 election, when like 80,000 people voted for Hal Linden, the star of the popular '70s series "Barney Miller"? And then they all blamed it on butterflies and chads? Well the state government responded by making the voting process just about idiot-proof.
Now the confusion is all about the 911 concept. In the past month or so we reported about an accountant who called 911 to report that he was being arrested, which is clearly not an appropriate time to take advantage of the 911 emergency service. And we also reported about another guy who felt cheated by a bunch of strippers, called 911, then felt cheated by the cops because they couldn't get his money back. He then called 911 to request better cops. And somewhere in there was another story about a guy who called 911 pleading for the police to come arrest him, which they finally did.
Well, the 911 system proved confusing for a couple of other guys over the weekend. Carlos Jose Gutierrez called 911 from the Hard Rock Cafe to report that a slot machine had stolen his money. The cops came to investigate, and Carlos conceeded that maybe he was to blame for the lost money. Then he ran to a different payphone, I guess because he figured that he would get a different, better 911, and reported the crime all over again. As people who are "in the know" about the 911 concept have probably already guessed, he got the same 911. And he got arrested. The slot machine was absolved of all guilt in the incident.
Then there was Reginald Peterson, a guy from Jacksonville who called 911 from the local Subway sandwich shop. He reported that a Subway employee had done a less than exemplary job making his sandwich. See, he had ordered a spicy Italian sandwich, but the Subway guy failed to put spicy sauce on the sandwich, thus leaving Reginald with a mere Italian sandwich. It really was not spicy at all. Apparently Reginald didn't realize that poor service at a Subway was not really an emergency, and in fact not covered under the current legal system. The cops apparently were providing less than exemplary service as well. Reginald called 911 again to report that the cops were not getting to the scene of the crime soon enough. They finally arrived, and (who would have thought) arrested Reginald. Like the slot machine in the previous incident, the Subway employee was not charged with a crime.
Now if you don't mind I would like to climb atop my soapbox. I believe that the problem here is that there are no shows on TV about a 911 center. As far as I know, there never has been. People have a firm grasp on the "police officer will arrest you if you break the law" thanks to shows like "Law and Order SVU" and "Adam 12". The hit show "ER" has taken all of the mystery out of what a hospital is for. However, there has never been such a show about a 911 call center. Therefore, people learn about 911 through heresay, anecdotes, cocktail party conversation and the like.
I believe it is the Major Television Networks who should rise to the occasion, and out of corporate civil duty to the public at large, produce television shows that will educate the public about the intended function of the 911 system in society.
And I am willing to "put my money where my mouth is". I hereby challenge the Major Television Networks to produce and air such a show. And I will send an official Wellillbegotohell.com black wifebeater to the first major network to do so.
NOTE: A "black wifebeater" is a sleeveless t-shirt, the kind with straps, that is black in color.
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