Logging Tape Law Under Scrutiny

A series of response delays and seeming mistakes in Bucks County (Penn.) has drawn the scrutiny of newspapers and TV stations to the incidents, and also to the state’s law on releasing logging tapes of 911 calls. The current law allows recordings to be withheld, but a new law passed in February should take precedence, one newspaper says. The law allows a court to review media requests and determine if the record should be released. Some comm center officials believe citizens will be reluctant to dial 911 if they know their call might be released to the press, but newspapers say they want some level of examination of the calls to insure incidents are not being mishandled. Read a comprehensive review of the situation here. The Open Records Guide mentioned in the story is here. Download (pdf) a copy of the new open records legislation here (search for “911 recording”).