911 Images Could Mean Info Overload

NEW YORK -- The scenario is all too common on the crowded streets of New York: A car crashes into another, confusion ensues and a slew of people at the site call 911 to offer the same or similar information.

Now the city wants to broaden the 911 system to accept digital photos and video clips of accidents and crimes. But the expansion of the massive 911 system, which already handles roughly 11 million calls a year, raises questions about what to do with all that data.

"It sounds like a good idea because it's technically doable and because it makes sense and other areas are doing it," said Alan Reiter, a wireless data consultant. "The downside is getting swamped with photos."

City officials say they're not worried about their ability to process all the digital images _ or the possibility that hoaxes might trip up dispatchers.

"We're managing information all the time," said John Feinblatt, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's criminal justice coordinator. "If somebody calls up and gives us words, we're assessing those words. Something that we do every day is judge the authenticity of the report and the veracity of the report."

The New York initiative, announced in January, will involve equipping 911 facilities with the necessary technology to accept the photos and videos, which often may come from individuals' cell phones. The city also intends to upgrade its non-emergency services through the 311 information hot line, which gets about 14.6 million calls a year.

New York officials do not yet have a timetable or cost estimates for implementing the technology, though Feinblatt said there "definitely will be a million at the end" of the price tag of the multiyear effort.

In adding image capability, New York City will be at the forefront of governments upgrading emergency-response systems to take advantage of the wireless age, joining states like Indiana, Tennessee and Vermont in working to enhance their systems.

Indiana, for instance, is in the early stages of planning and is still examining how incoming pictures would be managed. Officials want to first make sure the networks can handle the files.

"Your message will not go through until the bandwidth is there," said Ken Lowden, executive director of the Indiana Wireless Enhanced 911 Board. "If the bandwidth is really tight your picture's gonna sit there."

Paul Cosgrave, New York City's information-technology commissioner, said city systems are unlikely to need a major upgrade to handle the incoming digital data.

In theory, a witness to an emergency could directly send a picture or video to a dispatcher in what some call an "open" system.