by Monique Garcia
People found guilty of making a false 911 call to an emergency response center soon will face up to three years in prison.
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into a law a measure he said is aimed at properly punishing those who put law enforcement officers' lives in danger by placing prank emergency calls.
The legislation was crafted after Kankakee County Sheriff's Deputy Dave Stukenborg was severely injured when his squad car blew a tire and flipped several times while responding to a false call reporting five dead bodies in November 2009.
Because of a loophole in state law, the woman who placed the call could only be charged with a misdemeanor because the call was made to an emergency call center, not a law enforcement office. Quinn's signature closes that loophole, making it a felony that could result in three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1.
"What we're trying to say is that our police officers and our law enforcement are very, very dear to all of us in this state," said Rep. Lisa Dugan, a Kankakee Democrat who sponsored the legislation. "There are consequences to those who believe that it's in anybody's best interest to make a false 911 call which will put people in to even more danger."
Stukenborg has spent the past several months recuperating at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, where Quinn signed the bill.
"Hopefully it will be a deterrent so that in the future no family has to go through what my family has been through due to a false 911 call ever again," Stukenborg said.
I don't think it will make much difference. If someone is willing to make a false report to 911, they are not worried about a misdemeanor.
Quinn can kiss my fat azz. All these laws he's signing don't mean crap in Cook County. States Attorney Alvarez would have to approve and prosecute thousands of these cases every year in Chicago alone.
ReplyDeleteGuess what, ain't gonna happen! (costs too much)!
Sure, it might help in Kankakee. They get the co-operation of their states attorney!
This is politickin at its best!
IS there any hiring going on at OEMC? I know a person or two who would be quite usefull rather than some of the mush mouths we here now and agian on the zones. Please inform
ReplyDeleteMore laws...yeah!
ReplyDeleteBecause we all know how many people are actually prosecuted and convicted in Crook County.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIS there any hiring going on at OEMC? I know a person or two who would be quite usefull rather than some of the mush mouths we here now and agian on the zones. Please inform
Nice way to make friends. I'm sure they'll get right on it.
They will just get more clever on how they call things in or they will say that under stress they "thought" something was happening. Regardless, false 911 calls can cause officers to get hurt and citizens not to mention the workload increase for the call takers. A law as we all know, will not prevent anything. What the city needs to do is charge per call like they do for false alarms. Ticket the people on the spot if there is contact made and after so many, let it affect their government benefits if applicable. It's time to start getting certain people where it hurts.
ReplyDeleteOk I am done venting....sigh
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIS there any hiring going on at OEMC? I know a person or two who would be quite usefull rather than some of the mush mouths we here now and agian on the zones. Please inform
Nice way to make friends. I'm sure they'll get right on it.
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I second that!