Legislature(2023 - 2024)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/08/2023 09:00 AM Senate FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB25 | |
| SB38 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | SB 25 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 38 | TELECONFERENCED | |
SENATE BILL NO. 38
"An Act establishing the crime of interference with
emergency communications."
9:38:43 AM
Co-Chair Olson read the bill title. He noted that the
senate had passed the bill the previous session, but it had
not passed the other body.
9:39:28 AM
Senator David Wilson, Sponsor, offered a sponsor statement:
Senate Bill 38 establishes the offense of interference
with emergency communications. This statute would
apply when a person: repeatedly makes 911 calls to
report something they know has already been reported,
repeatedly calls 911 when there is no emergency, or
harasses or threatens a 911 operator.
Interference with emergency communications -- the
misuse, abuse, and disruption of 911 dispatch centers
-- is a problem that severely impacts public safety
and emergency response by delaying responses to real
emergencies. It is prevalent at dispatch centers
across Alaska and must be addressed.
During these disruptive events, other urgent emergency
calls must be placed on hold or delayed to meet
standards; industry standards are that all 911 calls
must be answered within 15-20 seconds. A dispatcher
could be required to place the parent of a choking
child on hold to answer repeated calls from a
harassing individual who is not in need of emergency
services, delaying necessary life-saving measures.
Under the language in the bill, that harasser could be
charged. Currently, state statute does not address
harassing behavior specific to 911 dispatch centers,
nor does it give law enforcement adequate recourse to
stop the behavior.
This problem is not unique to Alaska. Other states
have developed legislation that makes interfering with
emergency communications an arrestable offense --
which is the most effective way to stop the
interference -- thus allowing 911 telecommunicators to
focus on legitimate emergencies.
Please contact Jasmin Martin in my office at (907)465-
8165 or by email at Jasmin.Martin@akleg.gov for more
information. I respectfully ask for your support of
this legislation.
9:42:02 AM
JASMIN MARTIN, STAFF TO SENATOR WILSON, addressed a
Sectional Analysis (copy on file):
Section 1: Adds a new section (.785. Interference with
emergency communications) to AS 11.56. (Criminal
Law, 56. Offenses Against Public Administration).
(a) Establishes that a person commits a crime of
interference with emergency communication when they:
(1) Call 911 to elicit a first responder response for
a previously reported incident when there has been no
change in circumstances, and they have been instructed
to stop calling
(2) Make repeated 911 calls when there is no
emergency.
(3) Threaten 911 operator during a call to 911.
(b) Defines: "emergency communication," "emergency
communication center," and "emergency communication
worker."
(c) Establishes that this crime is a class B
misdemeanor.
Section 2: Adds a section to uncodified law that
specifies that this act is not applicable to offenses
committed prior to this legislation.
9:43:27 AM
Co-Chair Hoffman asked what communities had 911 operators,
and whether the communities had municipal operators or
operators answering on a statewide switchboard.
Senator Wilson relayed that there were regionally
contracted dispatchers and call centers throughout the
state that catered to communities. He thought the
Department of Public Safety commissioner could answer the
question.
Co-Chair Hoffman shared an incident in which a plane
crashed in Cook Inlet, which had not been successfully
responded to, which resulted in a fatality.
Co-Chair Olson commented that the incident had been
significantly troubling.
9:45:26 AM
JAMES COCKRELL, COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY,
detailed that when individuals called into 911 for
frivolous reasons it wasted resources and caused undue
stress for dispatchers. He stressed that non-emergency
calls tied up the lines and interfered with the response to
real emergencies. He hoped that the threat of legal action
would deter people from calling 911 for any other reason
but for emergencies.
9:47:39 AM
Co-Chair Hoffman asked how the 911 dispatches were
addressed in major hubs in rural Alaska such as Unalaska,
Dillingham, and Bethel.
Commissioner Cockrell thought that each of those
communities had their own dispatch centers. He said that
areas outside of those communities were trunk lined to
the Fairbanks dispatch center.
Co-Chair Hoffman understood that in the past Bethel had its
911 dispatch operated by the police department, which
switched over during the off-business hours to the Alaska
State Troopers (AST). He asked whether this was still the
case.
Commissioner Cockrell replied that he did not know.
Co-Chair Hoffman wanted to have his question answered. He
acknowledged that the question veered from the intent of
the legislation under discussion. He emphasized that the
communities did not have the finances to have a 911
dispatcher, which was challenging for the safety of those
communities.
9:49:19 AM
Commissioner Cockrell acknowledged the struggles and
challenges that the department had in providing meaningful
service to rural areas of the state. He spoke of the
challenges of trunk lines. He said that the upgrades
necessary to phone towers were expensive.
Co-Chair Hoffman thought that after the request had been
made, the more important thing would be getting service to
rural areas of the state. He cited the need for additional
AST personnel in rural areas.
9:51:00 AM
Commissioner Cockrell commented that the department was
focused on putting more AST in rural areas. He knew there
were issues such as housing that had not been overcome. He
said he was committed to putting law enforcement in rural
Alaska.
Co-Chair Olson thanked the commissioner for his efforts. He
considered 911 calls and asked what role the Village Public
Safety Officer (VPSO) had in responding to 911 calls.
Commissioner Cockrell expressed that the VPSO Program was
important to the department. He relayed that VPSOs would be
alerted when 911 calls were made in communities they
served.
Co-Chair Olson asked what percentage of 911 calls were
perceived to be harassment as opposed to legitimate
emergency calls.
Commissioner Cockrell did not have the information at hand
but mentioned that when harassment calls came in it was
disruptive.
9:54:00 AM
Co-Chair Olson asked whether the department had the
capability to find where calls to 911 were originating.
Commissioner Cockrell said that land line location could be
determined but cell phones made tracking where phone calls
originated mor difficult to establish.
9:55:09 AM
Co-Chair Stedman asked for help understanding how the bill
with harassing or prank calls.
Commissioner Cockrell relayed that under the bill, if the
caller's location could be established, they could face
legal consequences.
9:56:04 AM
Senator Bishop asked whether calls would be traced in order
to identify offenders.
Commissioner Cockrell thought there were some experts who
could address Senator Bishop's question. He thought in many
situations the identity of frequently disruptive callers
was already known.
9:56:50 AM
Co-Chair Hoffman referenced his earlier question pertaining
to a plane crash in Cook Inlet. He recalled that the 911
call had gone up to Fairbanks and was not relayed to the
vicinity where the emergency occurred. He wondered how the
situation had been rectified.
Commissioner Cockrell thought the situation had occurred
six or seven years ago. He thought the emergency call had
been made on a satellite phone, which had relayed it to
Fairbanks. He thought the call had not been transferred to
Mat-Com, which had led to the lack of emergency response.
He did not know if there had been any resolution on the
matter.
Co-Chair Hoffman requested that the commissioner look into
how the problem could be rectified.
Commissioner Cockrell agreed to look into the matter.
9:58:41 AM
AT EASE
10:00:14 AM
RECONVENED
JOEL BUTCHER, ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS
OFFICIALS (via teleconference), relayed that he resided in
Wasilla and was tech support for Mat-Com. He relayed that
he was part of the National Emergency Numbers Association
(NENA). He noted that there was no current state statute
that addressed or criminalized the type of activity
addressed in the bill. He qualified that the bill did not
propose to criminalize those that dialed 911 in error, but
rather those who abused the system. He urged support for
the legislation.
Co-Chair Olson asked for the percentage of people that were
misusing the system.
Mr. Butcher relayed that past experiences had occurred when
someone repeatedly called even after being asked to stop
calling. He said that the callers were either angry or in a
mental state where they felt they had no other
application to vent their frustration. He said that the
situations were rare but often happened at inopportune
times. He said that the legislation had been in the works
for several years and was the result of an instance where a
dispatcher had to file a police report personally in order
to get a caller to stop repeatedly calling 911 and
harassing the dispatcher. He said that calls of the nature
described in the bill happened to dispatchers in his
jurisdiction 2 or 3 times per year.
10:04:44 AM
Co-Chair Olson thought he heard that of 3,200 phone calls,
231 were accidental and 1 or 2 were menacing.
Mr. Butcher relayed that in the month of January 2023,
there had been 731 accidental misdials to the Mat-Com
dispatch center, none of which rose to the level of
harassment detailed in the bill.
Co-Chair Olson asked what other states had done to try and
stop the phone calls that were interfering with legitimate
911 calls.
Mr. Butcher shared that there were 23 states with similar
statutes. He had found statutes in seven different states:
Iowa, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and
California.
Co-Chair Olson asked how effective the statutes had been in
stopping illegal activity.
Mr. Butcher relayed that the statutes were effective and
being used to charge individuals that misused the system.
10:08:05 AM
Co-Chair Olson OPENED public testimony.
10:08:14 AM
Co-Chair Olson CLOSED public testimony.
10:08:22 AM
Senator Bishop asked what constituted a threat against a
911 operator and whether it was defined in statute.
Ms. Martin explained that threat was defined in AS
11.81.900 and was under the statutes related to extortion.
Senator Bishop asked whether a Class B misdemeanor applied
to minors.
Ms. Martin did not have the information at hand.
Senator Wilson answered affirmatively.
10:10:07 AM
Senator Wilson addressed FN 1 from the Department of
Administration, OMB Component 43. The note reflected
$225,000 of UGF funds through FY29 for the additional work
created by the legislation:
This bill creates several new crimes that are Class B
misdemeanors. The bill prohibits a person from
repeatedly contacting emergency services to report an
incident that has been previously reported after an
emergency worker instructs the person to stop making
contact. The bill also prohibits making repeat
contacts to emergency services knowing there is no
emergency or threatening an emergency worker.
New crimes result in additional workload for the
Office of Public Advocacy. The Agency is unable to
absorb additional workload increases as a result of
trial case backlog created by jury trial suspensions
in response to Covid-19 and by unprecedented
recruitment and retention challenges facing public
advocacy nationwide. The Agency is therefore
requesting one Attorney position in FY24 and beyond.
Senator Wilson addressed FN 2 from the Department of
Administration, OMB Component 1631. The note showed
expenses of $205,800 through FY29. The note had a similar
analysis of increased workload for the Public Defender
Agency as the previous note.
Senator Wilson addressed FN 3 from the Department of
Corrections, OMB Component 1381. The note reflected zero
fiscal impact:
This legislation amends AS 11.56 by adding a new
section AS 11.56.785 creating a crime of interference
with emergency communications. This legislation would
make interference with emergency communications a
class B misdemeanor.
Since this is a new offense, the department has no
historical data to be able to determine how many
convictions will occur under this statute or the
length of incarceration and cannot determine the
actual impact to the daily prison population.
However, based on the current prison population, any
increase can be absorbed within the department's
existing resources and capacity. Therefore, a zero
fiscal note is submitted for this legislation.
Senator Wilson addressed FN 4 from the Department of Law,
OMB Component 2202, which reflected zero fiscal impact:
This bill establishes the crime of interference with
emergency communications. A person is guilty of
interfering with emergency communications if they
knowingly make repeated calls to an emergency
communications center to report an incident that has
already been reported and continues to call after
being asked not to, makes repeated calls to an
emergency communications center knowing that there is
not an emergency, or threatens an emergency
communications worker.
Interference with emergency communications is a class
B misdemeanor.
It is unclear how many additional cases would be
referred to the Criminal Division for prosecution if
this bill were to pass. However, the targeted conduct
is very specific and, therefore, the department does
not anticipate that the potential increase in cases
will have a fiscal impact.
Senator Wilson addressed FN 5 from the Department of Public
Safety, OMB Component 3346, which was a zero fiscal note:
This bill deters the misuse and abusive calls that
cause disruption to 911 dispatch centers and
appropriately holds offenders accountable by
criminalizing conduct relating to interference with
emergency communications. Interference with emergency
communications creates situations that can delay
response time to real emergencies. During these
disruptive events, other urgent emergency calls must
be placed on hold or delayed in order to meet the
industry standard that all calls must be answered
within 15-20 seconds.
Current laws do not address harassing behavior
specific to 911 emergency dispatch centers and
dispatch personnel.
To charge under harassment in the second degree (AS
11.61.120), dispatchers must file individually as the
victims of harassment which gives the harassing
individual access to a dispatcher's first and last
names through court records rather than protecting
their anonymity. The crime of false information or
report (AS 11.56.800) does not cover incidents where
harassment or other disruptive calls are made but no
report or information was provided.
Having a specific statute that addresses calls that
intentionally interfere with emergency communications
can help reduce this problem and allow 911 dispatchers
to focus on doing their best to assist with legitimate
emergencies.
There is no fiscal impact.
10:13:20 AM
Co-Chair Hoffman asked whether the current version of the
bill was identical to the bill that had passed the
committee the previous year.
Senator Wilson cited that there was a small change to the
bill that was technical in nature.
Co-Chair Hoffman asked if FN 1 and FN 2 were different than
the fiscal notes in the previous legislation.
Co-Chair Olson pointed out that there were staff from LFD
that could address the fiscal note.
Senator Wilson answered that the fiscal impact notes were
new. He said that additional analysis has been requested
from the Department of Public Safety.
10:16:01 AM
ROB CARPENTER, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF LEGISLATIVE
FINANCE relayed that the notes containing fiscal impact
were minimal and some indeterminate. He thought that the
fiscally impacted agencies should go through the regular
budget process to request the funds they might need as a
result of the legislation.
Senator Wilson understood that there was a cost to the
state. He referenced an incident in Big Lake where there
had been a drowning emergency that was impeded by over 80
harassing calls to dispatchers. He emphasized that the bill
was intended to provide a deterrent to individuals to
refrain from misusing the 911 service.
Co-Chair Olson asked how to separate those people that had
mental health issues and might need emergency assistance
from those making harassing calls.
Senator Wilson relayed that the bill provided a tool to
send a first responder to a home to check on the caller. He
mentioned a mobile crisis response team could be sent to
assist people in crisis.
SB 30 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
Co-Chair Olson discussed housekeeping.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB 25 - Sponsor Statement Version A.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
SB 25 |
| SB 25 - Sectional Analysis Version A.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
SB 25 |
| SB 38 Supporting Document - Letters Received as of 1.23.23.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
SB 38 |
| SB 38 Sectional Analysis v. A 1.17.2023.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
SB 38 |
| SB 38 Sponsor Statement 1.17.2023.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
|
| SB 38 PSEA lettter of support SB 38 Senator Wilson.pdf |
SFIN 2/8/2023 9:00:00 AM |
SB 38 |