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Making The Call

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By RICHARD MULLINS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 27, 2008

I visited three 911 call centers in the area. All used the same equipment purchased and maintained by Hillsborough County. With permission of the authorities there, I dialed 911 on two different Verizon Wireless cellular phones. The results varied.

BlackBerry

Three different 911 centers correctly located me within a few hundred yards

However, in Plant City, the call was routed for an unknown reason to Hillsborough County 911 operators 22 miles away in Ybor City, though they accurately found me in Plant City.

In another test inside the City of Tampa 911 center, operators there fixed my location to a warehouse about 200 yards away. While inside the Hillsborough County 911 center, I was located to within a few dozen yards.

Prepaid Phone

None of the 911 centers could locate the Verizon Wireless prepaid phone I tested. While I was in Plant City, the call was again routed to Hillsborough County operators in Ybor, who said I was likely within several miles of a cellular tower at Medulla and Coronet roads in Plant City.

While inside the Hillsborough County 911 center, the system didn't even show the location of the tower in use.

"We know you're in Tampa Bay, but there's not a lot there to go on," said Brad Herron, director of operations for the sheriff's communications bureau.

The Difference

The BlackBerry had a built-in GPS chip that activates during 911 calls. The prepaid phone was 2 years old and had no GPS.

Examples

In the course of a few minutes on Dec. 17, Tampa police logged these cases:

1:05 p.m.: A MetroPCS call with only the cellular tower location in Ybor City and no caller ID.

1:09 p.m.: A Verizon Wireless call with only the tower location in Tampa.

2:05 p.m.: An AT&T call from a driver near Rowlett Park stuck on the railroad tracks with an oncoming train. It showed only the nearby tower location. (The train stopped in time.)

The next day, Hillsborough County sheriff's operators logged these calls:

6:03 a.m.: A MetroPCS call with only a tower location at 50th Street and the Selmon Crosstown Expressway.

6:06 a.m.: A Sprint Wireless call that showed only a tower in Wimauma.

6:21 a.m.: A MetroPCS call with only the location of the tower connecting the call, at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and U.S. 301.

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