From Charles Montaldo,
Your Guide to Crime / Punishment.
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One of the biggest tools in the fight against crime has been the development of the three-digit 9-1-1 emergency telephone reporting system and its related evolving technology, which makes life more difficult for would-be criminals.

Today more than 95 percent of the United States has access to a 9-1-1 emergency reporting system, which allows telephone customers to dial three digits to contact local emergency personnel -- police, fire and medical. Of those systems, 95 percent have been updated to the Enhanced 9-1-1 systems, which automatically route incoming calls to the nearest response center and automatically identify the location of the caller, without the caller even having to speak.

With the advancement of digital telephones, callers needing emergency service can program 9-1-1 into their phone's memory and touch only one digit to contact law enforcement. Moreover, the phenomenal growth in use of mobile cell phones has made it possible for people to report crimes to emergency services from virtually anywhere, making it possible for police to respond quickly to crimes in progress.

How many movies and television shows have we seen in which the victim picks up the telephone to call for help only to discover the lines have been cut? The wide use of cell phones is eliminating that tool from the burglar's kit.

History of 9-1-1

Today most of us take for granted the ability to call 9-1-1 and expect to be connected to an emergency dispatcher immediately, but the present 9-1-1 system took many years to develop across the United States.

The world's first telephone emergency system was started in England in 1937 after phone calls were delayed reporting a five-fatality fire. Britain used 9-9-9 as its universal emergency number and a woman reporting a burglar outside her home made the first 9-9-9 call on July 8, 1937.

It was more than 30 years after the development of Britain's system that the United States would begin to develop its own system. In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice issued a report recommending that police departments have a single number, and that single number be used nationwide.

In January of 1968, AT&T, the major telephone service provider at the time, designated 9-1-1 as the universal emergency number. Just 35 days after AT&T's announcement, the first-ever 911 call was placed by Alabama Speaker of the House Rankin Fite from Haleyville City Hall to U.S. Rep. Tom Bevill at the Haleyville police station. The small, independent Alabama Telephone Co. beat AT&T to the punch in actually launching a working 9-1-1 system.

Enhanced 9-1-1 Services

In 1975, technology was patented that would allow in-coming 9-1-1 calls to be selectively routed between emergency answering centers. Previously calls were routed with "hard-wired" switching. Alameda County, California developed the first working selective routing system in July 1978.

In addition, in the 1970s, technology was developed that provided for an Automatic Number Identification system, which would give emergency operators the telephone number of the person calling 9-1-1. Today, this technology is available to all telephone customers as Caller ID.

In January 1980, AT&T began developing two complete Enhanced 9-1-1 systems -- in Orange County, FL and St. Louis, MO. -- which not only included Automatic Number Identification but also Automatic Location Identification. Emergency dispatchers were not only able to identify instantly the caller's telephone number, but also the exact location from where the call was being made.

Today, many states have passed legislation requiring that cell phones become compliant with the Enhanced 9-1-1 system, to make it possible for emergency dispatchers to identify the cell phone number and locate it within 100 yards.

The digital world is closing in on criminals.

More Information

History of 9-1-1
There is no debate on where the first 911 call was placed. However, there is considerable unverifiable information about who was involved and how 911 was developed, according to Dispatch Monthly Magazine.

How Did 9-1-1 Become The Universal Emergency Number?
First, the telephone companies had to find a three-digit number that was not being used anywhere in the United States or Canada as a central office exchange or an area code.