if you need the police for whatever reason really quickly and your either out in the middle of nowhere or you dont know where you are and cant see road names or anything, how do they get to you quickly? Can they trace the call from your mobile or phone box?
2007-02-15 06:53:22 · 14 answers · asked by ms_jaffa_cake 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Hi, if you're in the UK, when you make a 999 call, the Police are given the mapping co-ordinates of the mobile phone mast the call has been picked up on. Unfortunately, this could be miles away from where you actually are, or it could be within a few feet - it depends on the proximity of the mast to where the caller is. In life and death situations (quite literally), the Police can apply to have your call triangulated which involves locating the nearest 3 masts to where the caller is so they have an idea of where the caller is. Again, it doesn't pin-point your exact location, but gives them an idea of where to start looking. This is a very costly exercise (I believe it's around £12,000 per triangulation request), and it takes time, and the mobile has to remain switched on. If it's a landline or a telephone box, we know where you are within seconds. Hope this helps.
2007-02-15 12:45:03 · answer #1 · answered by ragill_s1849 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
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2016-05-12 15:48:17 · answer #2 · answered by Jon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are in the UK and you ring 999 the operator gives the calltaker in the police ops.room the number the call is coming from if the call taker cannot get your location they ring back the operator and get an address for the numberIn my force if it is a phone box the police mapping system would give the location if you entered the number.If you ring from a mobile the police can only get the location of the nearest cell site and then only in very serious life threatening circumstances and this is done by fax.So the answer is if your phoning from a cell phone make sure you give your location and be careful the police you are speaking to may not cover the area you are calling fromtfor instance you could be near the border of two forces but a cell phone wouldnt show that.The police in the UK have had to set up a special unit in London because so many people who put phones in their pockets end up dailing emergency and all that can be heard is background noise or nothing.
2007-02-16 05:40:58 · answer #3 · answered by frankturk50 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are on a mobile phone, they cannot immediately "trace" you. The term "trace" is only used in the movies. They can contact you phone service carrier and get assistance with locating your approximate location. They can determine what tower or towers that your cell phone is using. They can then determine what side of the tower your cell phone is "pinging". They can now determine your approximate location using this information or using a series of three towers to triangulate your location. The more towers near your location the easier it is to determine your location. There is also a more advanced techinique that is not public knowledge. This all takes time though.
2007-02-15 08:15:35 · answer #4 · answered by drb1256 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you are on a landline it is easy for them to trace the call regardless of where you are calling from.
If you are on a mobile, it gets a little more tricky - while most places are using enhanced 911 systems that can trace cell calls, there are still a few rural areas which don't have this functionality. And, regardless of whether or not they have this system, your phone needs to have GPS capability - if you bought it in the past couple of years it likely does, all phones manufactured recently have to have it by law.
2007-02-15 07:03:06 · answer #5 · answered by Jeffrey 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
If in the US:
Mobile phone carriers are requires to support some level of "E911" service. With older phones, this means making a guess about where you're located by knowing which cell tower you're using. However, this is VERY unlikely to be useful in finding you.
Newer phones have GPS built-in that can be used to pin-point your location. You need to ensure that you phone has the built-in and that it's turned on. Most phones have a way to enable/disable this feature. For those more concerned about privacy than safety, the ability to turn this off is critical.
If using a call box, they know which box it is. This information is automatically transmitted. If using a standard phone booth or a standard phone, they have caller ID and can locate the phone that way. 911 has a specific form of caller ID, in case you're wondering.
Outside the US:
It depends on your country, mobile provider, and mobile phone.
2007-02-15 07:04:43 · answer #6 · answered by Jay 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They have identifiers on the provided phone boxes to locate you but the mobile/cell is another issue and you'd better start to worry. A LOT.
I heard this one about tracing calls over a year ago..
A man was selected for Jury Duty and tried talking his way to get out of it with the Judge (who said NO WAY) so he could attend a business meeting out-of-state.
Sure enough the man called in sick.
The Judge put a tracer on his phone, proved the call came from out-of-state by the cell towers used to initiate the call and cited him for contempt of court. However, they cannot pinpoint you just yet unless you subscribe to 'OnStar' now sold in vehicles and used in some BigRigs. They are working on this technology for individual cell phone use.
**Don't waste time trying *911* on a cell phone. They have difficulty locating the proper authorities in your area... if it connects at all! I recommend dialing "O" or "411" for help.
2007-02-15 07:26:02 · answer #7 · answered by ? pita ? 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋
yes they can use tracers and other things that can trace you back to almost anything possible
2007-02-15 06:57:38 · answer #8 · answered by Daniel M 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes
2007-02-15 07:01:19 · answer #9 · answered by Dennis G 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes they can.
2007-02-15 07:25:53 · answer #10 · answered by wise5557 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋