Oakland: No to 911 calls, Yes to Infringing Surveillance

http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_24768860/citywise-oakland-cant-afford-answer-911-cellular-calls

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-real-purpose-of-oaklands-surveillance-center/Content?oid=3789230

Before the ascendancy of cell phones, it was well known that calling 911 from your mobile would get you the California Highway Patrol -- and extra lag time for your call to be transferred to local police.

 

But times have changed and Oakland is now one of only two cities in the state -- Atherton is the other -- where all 911 calls from cell phones are still routed to the CHP.

There are approximately 348,000 annual 911 cellular calls made in Oakland, according to a city report. It results in a delay of about a minute for CHP to take those calls and reroute them to city dispatchers. But accepting the calls would overload Oakland's dispatch system, which already handles about 600,000 emergency calls per year, police officials told council members at Tuesday's Public Safety Committee meeting.

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City leaders have argued that Oakland needs a massive surveillance system to combat violent crime, but internal documents reveal that city staffers are also focused on tracking political protesters.