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Telephonic Phailure
Today was one of those days that should have seen me roll over and go back to sleep when the alarm went off. With many businesses and City Hall closed, I had a frustrating day of trying and failing to get in touch with various members of the City Council, most of whom were not in the office, and several of whom were out of town, trying to enjoy today's bank holiday. Of course, nothing stops the presses; not rain, not sleet, and certainly not George Washington's nor Abraham Lincoln's birthdays, so here I was, bugging city officials on their day off.
Despite the day's general slowness, one interesting news item did come to light. Apparently, the city's police station has suffered three serious failures of its phone system in the past two months.
Commissioner Ron Kim (who was in his office, at least for part of the day) told me that during these three outages there are no outward signs that anything is amiss -- to anyone in the police station. To anyone trying to reach the station, say with a bleeding gun shot wound or other life-threatening malady, the only answer upon dialing 584-1800 would be a never-ending ring. None of the phones in the station would make a sound.
Commissioner Kim is certainly concerned about this (to say the least), and took steps in December, when the problem first came up, to put a solution into place. Under then-Mayor Valerie Keehn, a committee studied the problem, identified a solution, and apparently even found an appropriate vendor to provide a remedy that could be transfered to a new building, were one to be built.
Keep in mind this is all from Kim. Apparently once Scott Johnson came into office he decided that the problem needed further study, and Kim said that he has empaneled a second committee to look into the matter, with the possible thought of upgrading phones in the whole building.
Kim said that some things go beyond partisan politics. If anything ever went beyond partisan politics, this is it. As far as I can tell, it's OK to be on the fence about the need for a new police station. No one's life is at stake there. It isn't OK to be on the fence about the need for working phones in the current police station.
I wasn't able to ask Mayor Johnson about this situation today, but I plan to touch bases with him about it tomorrow. Stay tuned.
In the mean time, if you've accidentally cut your finger off with a butcher knife while preparing lamb chops for dinner, and don't get a prompt answer on the police station's 584-1800 number, hang up and dial 911. You'll be connected to emergency operators in Ballston Spa, who will dispatch emergency services.
Despite the day's general slowness, one interesting news item did come to light. Apparently, the city's police station has suffered three serious failures of its phone system in the past two months.
Commissioner Ron Kim (who was in his office, at least for part of the day) told me that during these three outages there are no outward signs that anything is amiss -- to anyone in the police station. To anyone trying to reach the station, say with a bleeding gun shot wound or other life-threatening malady, the only answer upon dialing 584-1800 would be a never-ending ring. None of the phones in the station would make a sound.
Commissioner Kim is certainly concerned about this (to say the least), and took steps in December, when the problem first came up, to put a solution into place. Under then-Mayor Valerie Keehn, a committee studied the problem, identified a solution, and apparently even found an appropriate vendor to provide a remedy that could be transfered to a new building, were one to be built.
Keep in mind this is all from Kim. Apparently once Scott Johnson came into office he decided that the problem needed further study, and Kim said that he has empaneled a second committee to look into the matter, with the possible thought of upgrading phones in the whole building.
Kim said that some things go beyond partisan politics. If anything ever went beyond partisan politics, this is it. As far as I can tell, it's OK to be on the fence about the need for a new police station. No one's life is at stake there. It isn't OK to be on the fence about the need for working phones in the current police station.
I wasn't able to ask Mayor Johnson about this situation today, but I plan to touch bases with him about it tomorrow. Stay tuned.
In the mean time, if you've accidentally cut your finger off with a butcher knife while preparing lamb chops for dinner, and don't get a prompt answer on the police station's 584-1800 number, hang up and dial 911. You'll be connected to emergency operators in Ballston Spa, who will dispatch emergency services.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
6:33 PM
1 Comments:
Andrew,
I hate to be pragmatic here, but whenever I need to contact the police for any emergency, I sure as hell don't bother looking up their number; I dial 911. Again, from a pragmatic perspective, which would you dial while you're watching someone break into your apartment; would you dial three digits that everyone knows will automatically connect you with a central dispatcher, or seven digits you'd likely need to look up in the phone book for the local police station?
Let me also point out another thing: if I WERE to dial a seven digit number after suffering a "bleeding gunshot wound" or severed digit, I'd at least call the fire department, which has trained emergency technicians who save lives.
The worst thing that would happen in the event of a phone failure of the main cop number is that a group of reporters would be misguided into thinking the cops were slacking off and not answering the phone. Or nonemergency calls -i.e. the fellow who's car got broke into over the weekend -would be flummoxed by the lack of an answer. And if you think this is BS, then ask Kim how many EMERGENCY calls the cops get on the 584-1800 number.
I'm sorry, but this smacks of the same fear-mongering dung Kim periodically likes to throw up against the barn door in hopes some of it sticks. Don't be fooled by this snake oil salesman. Besides, if it were THAT dire of a problem and he did a 'study' to solve it, then why the wait? This just 'all of a sudden' happened? I don't think so. And I sure as hell don't buy his BS excuse about the mayor ordering 'more studies.' I'll tell you the real emergency: This fool is in office for another year and nine months.
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