TRIBECA

Tribecan fights for law that could have saved her son

By Laura S. Greene

Their sons were lost off the shore of City Island, New York and even though one of the boys dialed 911 on his cell phone, their cries were not answered because the 911 operator was unable to locate them.

New York State lacks the capability to locate individuals who call 911 from their mobile phones, even though over the past twelve years, $200 million meant to provide a cell phone location service has been collected through a surcharge to New York’s cell phone users.

The four boys, Andrew Melnikov, Carlo Wertenbaker, Max Guarino and Henry Badillo, were never seen after Jan. 24 when their small boat was lost in Long Island Sound. Making matters worse, the 911 operator and the supervisor did not send help because they did not consider the voice message to be specific enough, giving only “Long Island Sound in a boat off the coast of City I.” as their location.

Tribeca resident Barbara Dufty, the mother of Guarino, 17, along with the families of the other lost boys have decided to take action. They started a petition about one month ago to urge members of the State Senate and Governor George Pataki to pass a bill that the Assembly passed on Feb. 24, exactly one month after the four boys were lost.

The bill would create the Wireless 911 Local Incentive Funding Enhancement (LIFE), which would end delays in the development of a state-wide services that would give 911 dispatchers the ability to locate individuals on cell phones commonly known as E911 service. The legislation would directly deliver previously collected wireless surcharge funds to local emergency dispatch centers that take wireless calls, which are known as Public Safety Answering Points.

Bronx resident Virginia Badillo, the mother of Henry, said if this bill doesn’t pass, the P.S.A.P.’s would probably not front the money for the E911 service themselves because of the delays in the reimbursement process.

Over 3,600 friends, relatives and supporters of the bill have signed the petition (at www.petitiononline.com/Life911/petition.html), some with strong messages to the senators and Pataki.

“Please vote for the 911 Enhancement,” Ana Ruiz wrote on the petition. “Do this for my grandson, Henry.”

Henry’s aunt, Margaret Ruiz also pleaded, “I strongly urge you to pass this measure. Henry was my heart. He, Andrew, Carlo and Max were deeply loved and the world was a better place when they were in it.”

One Brooklyn resident wrote, “Most people bought cell phones in case of emergency, especially women and teens who are stuck on highways. Since we are paying for such services, then by God we should and must get it.”

Political supporters of the bill are pushing hard for its passing.

“It is inexcusable that after ten years and over $200 million in collected surcharge revenue, no real progress has been made in implementing enhanced wireless emergency service,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said in a prepared statement. “This bill would ensure that this money goes toward the life-saving purpose it was intended.”

Assemblymember David Koon, who is the original sponsor of the bill, called on the Senate and the governor to take swift action. Koon has experienced similar circumstances. About ten years ago his daughter was murdered while a 911 operator couldn’t locate her position.

Republican State Senator Joseph E. Robach is sponsoring the bill in the Senate. Robach said through a spokesperson that he is not aware of anyone blocking the bill.

“The only problem with this bill is that there’s a huge price tag on it,” the spokesperson said. “So, who knows with this year’s budget if it will pass,” adding that the money has already been spent on other public safety needs.

Robach himself added that with all the public safety needs out there, this is a matter of spreading the resources in the best way. He noted the amount of people who use cell phones and the amount of crime E911 might prevent.

“It would be a great tool to have,” he said.

The price tag on the bill is $300 million. It would be financed with bonds from the State Dormitory Auditory, which has the power to pay local emergency call centers to make the necessary improvements. Sisa Moyo, a spokesperson for Silver, said the localities have been working hard and doing everything they can, but they are still at different levels of technology.

Henry’s mother, Virginia, said: “Let’s get this bond so we can upgrade this now. If we don’t, no one will do it. We all know how it works. They will not get reimbursed for years.”

Koon said the cellular telephone surcharge was established in 1991 solely to implement an enhanced wireless 911 system in New York state. He said, however, none of the money has been used for that purpose until 2002.

According to an audit by former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall in 2001, the law requires that all the money raised by the cell phone surcharge is to be used for costs related to the statewide cellular 911 emergency. However, McCall’s audit found that this is not the case. The report stated that the management at the Division for Deposit, where the money is controlled, contended they are not under any legal requirement to spend the money is a specific way and “that no specific appropriation has ever stated that it had to be spent on cellular 911.”

The audit said the cell phone surcharge money is being used for division expenses such as dry cleaning, transportation and lodging expenses for a promotional exam, vehicle leases and purchases and work boots. The report stated that most of these miscellaneous expenses “cannot be easily construed as costs related to the establishment and maintenance of cellular 911.”

Dufty said she hopes publicizing her story will have people aware of the problem and she said she would like to be optimistic her government will come to her aid.

“If this enhanced system would have been in place, help could have been sent. Help was close by — about 20 minutes,” said Dufty. “I feel that most people don’t realize that if they call 911 from their cell phones, the operator won’t know where they are like they would if they were calling from a land line.”

The cell phone industry is becoming more and more compatible with E911 services. The Federal Communication Commission now requires cell phone carriers to provide E911 capability at the request of a local emergency calling center. At this point, all new handsets do not have the E911 capability, but the regulation is scheduled to be completed in 2005.

Companies like AT&T, Sprint and Nextel are already providing E911 services elsewhere and about 28 states currently have the system this bill is trying to fund. AT&T spokesperson, Rochelle Cohen, said they “are ready, willing and able” to provide this service to New Yorkers if and when New York has the E911 emergency capabilities.

This is because a lot of cell phone carriers already have a significant number of phones with E911 capabilities. Sprint spokesperson, Jenny Walsh, said that all of Sprint’s new handsets have the capability. In fact, Henry Badillo, the missing boy who made the cell phone call, had a Sprint phone and it had the E911 capabilities to be located if New York would have had the service to locate it.

“When we got him the cell phone we told him it wasn’t to use as his own personal phone,” said Virginia Badillo. “We told him it was to be used if he was going to be late and in an emergency to dial 911. We had always told him that.”

Nextel spokesperson Diane Rainey said they currently have two models available to the public with E911 capabilities. In the future they plan to have all new handsets E911 compatible as is required by the F.C.C.