Any idea why this Big Brother technology might give some the willies? After all, it's not like there is a potential for abuse, is there? It's not like the feds have a new relationship with law enforecement...it's not like Echelon might override this system to report to the locals that the sherif is a disident for refusing federal intervention, and call this number to report his where-abouts to the "authorities"....

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http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpne1y.htm

Cops Can Notify Whole Neighborhood

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press Writer

SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) -- Richard Peterson awoke to the telephone ringing. The clock next to his bed read 3:20 a.m.

He was groggy as his wife grabbed the phone, but both were instantly on alert when they heard the recorded warning message from police: Lock the doors, turn on the lights, and be prepared for a door-to-door search by officers.

Hours later, Peterson saw a teen-ager dart out of the nearby woods. He dialed 911, and within minutes the suspect was in custody.

The episode this month is a success story for Scarborough's ``Reverse 911,'' an automated telephoning system that allows police to quickly alert whole neighborhoods about potential problems.

``The public loved it,'' said Joe Giacomantonio, community resources officer for the Scarborough Police Department.

Scarborough is the only community in Maine that provides the service but the technology is catching on across the country. Scores of agencies have put similar systems to use over the past five years, and police are using the tool in novel ways.

Last month, police in Arlington, Va., alerted residents to be on the lookout for a man with Alzheimer's who wandered away from an adult day care program. Based on a caller's tip, the search was expanded and the man was found seven hours later in the District of Columbia.

In Bowling Green, Ky., police sent an automated message to banks in September after learning of a counterfeit check-cashing scam. Seconds after getting the notice, a teller dialed 911 when a woman tried to pass a $14,000 check, resulting in an arrest on the spot.

In Maine, the episode unfolded after a violent burglary attempt in Portland in which a family was terrorized by five bandits. It ended when the father was shot while being forced to lie on the floor.

The incident moved from Maine's largest city into this bedroom community of 15,000 after a getaway car wrecked a half-mile from Peterson's house and three suspects fled into the woods.

That's when Giacomantonio went to work, grabbing his mouse and firing up his ``Reverse 911'' computer program.

Looking at a map on his computer screen, he used the mouse to outline a four-square-mile area were the suspects were loose. Then he recorded the message, and the computer did the rest.

The phone calls started going out to 400 homes at 3 a.m., even as police prepared to go door-to-door.

Two of the suspects were found hiding in a hunting trailer, but a third remained on the lam at daybreak.

It was a couple of hours later when Peterson saw a teen-ager fitting the message's description dart from the woods wearing only boxer shorts and a sweatshirt on a cold morning.

He dialed 911.

``Before I was off the phone with the dispatcher, they had him,'' Peterson said.

It was a happy ending. The shooting victim survived and the suspects were arrested.

When it was over, Giacomantonio sent another message saying the suspects were in custody.

Although sometimes referred to as ``Reverse 911,'' the notification system has nothing to do with the 911 system that people in the United States rely on for emergencies.

``Reverse 911'' is a registered trademark of Sygma Micro Corp., which installed Scarborough's system for $23,000. It is sophisticated enough to indicate whether a call was received or whether a message was left on an answering machine. It also can be programmed to keep trying.

It has other tricks, as well.

During a hurricane, for example, police could send an evacuation notice to coastal residents, asking recipients of the message to press ''1'' if they intend to comply, ''2'' if they need help, or ''3'' if they intend to ride out the storm.

Using a printout, police and firefighters would know whom to check on when going door-to-door.

There are three major companies marketing the systems. Sygma Micro Corp. and Avtex, based in Edina, Minn., have targeted law enforcement agencies. Sygma says it has about 100 systems in the field, and Avtex says it has installed 280.

Dialogic Corp. of Franklin, Tenn., targets emergency agencies and operators of chemical and nuclear plants and has installed roughly 1,100 systems, said David Krikac, the company's marketing director.

AP-NY-01-23-00 1527EST

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 23, 2000

Answers

``The public loved it" , go figure. Good thing they didn't call MY house. With this reverse 911, who needs guns? And wouldn't it be just super to get chips implanted so the satellite can locate and dematerialise the convict (if he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't have run...) so we won't even have to be awakened?

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 23, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

Good thing they didn't call MY house. With this reverse 911, who needs guns? And wouldn't it be just super to get chips implanted so the satellite can locate and dematerialise the convict (if he wasn't guilty, he wouldn't have run...) so we won't even have to be awakened?

What?

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 23, 2000.

That reminds me of the part in "1984" where the people are told to all get up simultaneously and go to their doors to spot the book's protagonist, who was running away from the Thought Police.

Let this go national and soon you can be getting a middle of the night phone call from Big Bubba telling you to get up and look out for the evil people who rebelled against the herd, prepared for Y2K and are now fleeing from agents of the Federal Bureau of Obedience.

Not something I would welcome into my communitiy.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 23, 2000.

Dancr, tongue-in-cheek running commentary on how technology is currently revolutionizing law enforcement.

Remember that guy they caught a month back by putting a chip in his car, then tracking him via satellites to peg him in the neighborhood at the time of some burglaries? And the LA police at rollover given access to data from military satellites to track weapon discharges? It's a different world.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 23, 2000.

just the fact that many people can be warned at one time does not seem too bad to me. it isn't really a form of spying on you, just a notification process, which could be lifesaving. if it was feeding back private information about the person on the other end of the phone that would be a different matter.

-- boop (leafyspurge@hotmail.com), January 23, 2000.

Hokie,

I missed that "military satellite to locate weapon discharges at rollover" aspect. Do you have a link???

-- Z (Z@Z.Z), January 23, 2000.

Did anyone else see the picture of the little boy who had been shot by a bullet that someone had shot off to cellegrate the new year? Well those satellites can pinpoint where the shot came from. As for the reverse phone messages, you can look up addresses on the web doing the same thing.To record a message and have it call people in an emergeny that could save the life of you and your family doesn't seem to bad to me. How many people have caller ID? I haven't heard anyone scream about that. Many lives have been saved due to being able to trace an address back from a phone call to 911 when the coller was unable to talk to the operator, or if a child called and didn't know the address.

I'd be a little more worried about how the banks and credit card companies are selling your personal information to other people. And the internet has many new ways of gathering your information.

How many people are aware that the site you visit has the ability to know what monitor you use, the operating system, your browser and a lot more.

At the moment, the government is way behind the internet in what can be found out about you. It is more in the tune of "Big Business" is watching you.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), January 23, 2000.

I agree this has abuse potential, but the more I think about it, in what way would it be unconstitutional? It's not too different in intent from the neighborhood emergency radio systems already set up in tornado areas. The weakness will come, I think, in the civil liability area, when they alert a neighborhood on a false alarm, or else in the confusion the wrong person gets shot by a citizen.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), January 23, 2000.

Just wait 'till the telemarketers get a hold of this software.

-- semper paratus (still_here_with@my.pals), January 23, 2000.

From: Y2K, ` la Carte by Dancr (pic), near Monterey, California

I'm no lover of police tactics, fully appreciate the ominous potential of Echelon, and did read 1984, but I'm afraid I didn't see these two news stories, and I don't remember that scene from the book. There are problably more readers than just me who don't get the point. Is it that potentially innocent people could have their reputations ruined in their neighborhood, without benefit of a trial?

I can see how this would be useful for a Neighborhood Watch program, but then, consider the criminal who could make this kind of call, and then, if you didn't hop right up and turn on those lights... know you're not home.

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.webpage), January 23, 2000.

HONESTLY, this is something that the Weather Service has wanted for a LONG time.

Chuck, who has issued his share of tornado warnings to SKYWARN watchers.

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), January 23, 2000.

Have to agree with Hokie. Wasn't it one of our Founding Fathers who said something to the effect that "One who is willing to give up some of his freedom for safety (The exact quote escapes me now) deserves neither. Skywatch is one thing but I don't want no federales bustin' down my door because I didn't wake to a call and respond as ordered. THEY DON'T NEED NO STINKIN BADGES!! They already have night vision. heat sensors, spotlights etc. in choppers and who knows what else.

-- Larry (Rampon@Airmail.net), January 24, 2000.

He who would give up essential liberty for temporal security, deserves neither liberty nor security -- Benjamin Franklin

-- Dancr (addy.available@my.homepage), January 24, 2000.

Seems to me, that's what the Emergency Broadcast System is for. It's a good thing they didn't try to search my house either. No one searches my house without a warrant. NO ONE. Anyone who tries gets ventilated. In this case there would be no probable cause. It's a matter of 4th Amendment Rights.

-- Powder (Powder47keg@aol.com), January 24, 2000.

Wildweasel - I think that was Fahrenheit 451.

-- bw (home@puget.sound), January 24, 2000.

Z that was a Chicago paper, I didn't save the link, sorry.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 24, 2000.

Heh, just tryin to get some semblance of conversation goin on a slow night, didn't mean to scare any folks here. The merging of law enforcement and military resources remains controversial, some say because of a balance of powers. Thanks for comments all.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 24, 2000.

An article back in December talked about the LAPD using high tech to locate New Year's gunfire, but did not mention satellite info. It noted that LAPD had deployed in one LA neighborhood a limited version of a locator system that uses miniature microphones to triangulate the sound of gunfire and then sends an automated message to all phones in that vicinity. Sounds a variation on the old "hue-and-cry" that the British police used to rely on to help chase down bad guys.

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), January 24, 2000.

Cheri, I have Caller ID Block. Caller ID ticks me off. IF you are being harassed and need temporary caller ID that seems to make sense so the police can track them. There are no other reasons to have it. The first time I called an ad in the paper for a washing machine and the guy called me back and used my name I called the phone company and got Caller ID Block. If I get a message that someone will not accept my call I am the one who chooses whether or not to disable it and let them have my info.

Sorry about the rant, just a pet peeve of mine!

-- Just Curious (jnmpow@flash.net), January 24, 2000.