8 answering points will share funds for enhanced 911 system

The origin of cellular 911 calls will be pinpointed automatically.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Funds for the enhanced wireless 911 system will be divided among eight 911 answering points in Trumbull County according to the population each answering point serves.
The county's 911 planning committee decided that dollar outlay Thursday.
The county is to receive from the state this year some $393,584 derived from a 32-cent-a month surcharge paid by wireless phone customers. The money will pay for equipment needed to track the location of 911 calls made from cellular phones.
All 911 calls made from cellular phones in Trumbull County are now answered by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Southington, which handled at least 39,000 such calls last year.
The first phase of development of the enhanced 911 wireless system will be to have cellular 911 calls answered by one of the eight local answering points beginning this summer, depending on which cellular phone tower the call goes to.
The second phase will be technology to enable emergency call takers to automatically locate the origin of the cellular 911 call within a narrow range.
Interim county 911 director Karen Davies said she has requested and is now awaiting maps from about 10 cellular phone companies serving the county concerning the locations of their cellular phone towers to allow phase one to begin.
The points
The 911 answering points, with the population served and percentage of the county's 224,292 population, are:
Trumbull County 911 Center in Howland, 92,373; 40 percent.
Warren Police Department, 46,832; 21 percent.
Niles Police Department, 33,126 (Niles, Weathersfield, McDonald); 15 percent.
Liberty Township Police Department, 12,661; 6 percent.
Girard Police Department, 10,902; 5 percent.
Lordstown Police Department, 10,590 (Lordstown and Warren Township); 5 percent.
Newton Falls, 9,524 (Newton Falls and Newton Township); 4 percent.
Hubbard Police Department, 8,284; 4 percent.
milliken@vindy.com