Penalty for 911 Calls

Northern York (Penn.) Regional police chief Carl Segatti is hoping to reduce the number of prank and unnecessary 911 calls it receives, and has asked the local jurisdictions to pass a law to fine offenders. Two of the eight townships have now passed a law that hands out $25 fines for offenses one through five, and then $100 fines after that in a calendar year. “It’s costly to taxpayers,” Segatti told a reporter. “If it takes an officer 10 minutes to get there, 10 minutes to manage the incident and 10 minute to do paper work, that’s a half-hour. Multiply that by almost 1,000 calls.” That’s right. His agency handles about 900 bad calls a year.