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Health & Fitness

Late Night Conversation with a Manalapan Cop

Last night a Manalapan cop responded to my house - because of an error in the 9-1-1 system. Excrement occurs.

Last night at about 10:30 PM, an officer of the Manalapan Police Department responded to my house because, he said, "A 9-1-1 call reported a disturbance at this address." 

There was no disturbance at my house. I told the officer my phone number. He told me that it was not the number that the call came from. When he tried to verify the number with the 9-1-1 dispatch team, they found that it was a non-working number. I don't understand how that can be. I thought 911 systems automatically do reverse lookups to verify the location of the caller. I suppose it could have been a SKYPE or other kind of software phone which cannot be called from a landline or cell phone. But I would think that the police could identify the IP address.

There might have been a disturbance at another house on my street and the 9-1-1 call answerer couldn't correctly identify the number. There also might have been a disturbance at another street name that sounds similar somewhere near by - in Manahawken or Manasquan - which could be a very dangerous situation - if the 9-1-1 callers don't get the right address then the police will respond to the wrong address. By the time the police get the destination figured out, someone could be dead - literally. 

This is a real problem. The officer said that he wondered if the people answering the phone are certified or adequately trained. "They don't seem to know Manalapan," he said. "For example," he said, "the police department gets calls to respond to the McDonalds in Manalapan - but there is no McDonalds in Manalapan. The closest thing is the McDonalds in Marlboro."

What are the regulations specifying 9-1-1 call response teams? What level of education is required? Are they union? Do the operators earn minimum wage?

Was it a good idea for the Manalapan Township to sell it's brand new 9-1-1 security response system to the County Sheriff? I know the Sheriff got the system for significantly less than Manalapan's taxpayers paid for the system - so it was a good deal for the Sheriff, at the expense of the Manalapan Township taxpayer - but was it a good idea? 

The responding office was polite and professional. He assessed the situation quickly and accurately. 

Find out what's happening in Manalapanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

But what would have happened if it was at 1:30 AM not 10:30 PM? If I had been asleep and there had been reports of gunshots? Would the police have gotten a warrent and broken down the door to my house? 

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