Crist, House may be at Odds on 911 Call Privacy

By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida

A measure to exempt 911 recordings from public records laws may pit the House sponsor against the governor, a fellow Republican, as lawmakers debate whether they can protect privacy while maintaining oversight over emergency dispatcher performance.

With 911 tapes increasingly used by media outlets as prurient entertainment, calls are growing to restrict who has access to the recordings made during some of life’s most horrific moments.

Such concern has lead Rep. Rob Schenk, R-Spring Hill, to propose a measure that would shield audio recordings of the emergency calls to all but law enforcement officials. Citizens including the caller would be allowed to review the tapes only under a judge’s order.

On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Crist told the News Service of Florida that he has yet to see the legislation, but generally said he supports keeping the records open for public scrutiny.

“I think we ought to keep it open,” Crist said. “You learn more about what happens with these 911 calls when it’s open. You have that kind of transparency where the truth is more available and easily attainable.”

The bill is scheduled to be heard Wednesday in the House Government Affairs Policy Council, its first committee stop.

“The need for emergency services bespeaks a very personal and often traumatizing event,” the bill reads. “To have the recordings made publicly available is an invasion of privacy that could result in trauma, sorrow, humiliation, or emotional injury to the person reporting the emergency or requiring emergency services, or to the immediate families of those persons.”

Law enforcement officials would have immediate access to the actual recordings. The public would not. Transcripts of the recordings would be available 60 days after the call was made. The requester would be billed the cost of transcription.

The measure has raised concerns from open records advocates who say recordings provide vital oversight of the agencies charged with responding to emergency situations. Others, however, say the tapes have too often become audio fodder in a reality-TV world.

“Quite frankly, I’m more concerned about the victims’ side of it and their ability to use 911,” Schenk said.

The issue has taken on added prominence following a highly publicized Charlotte County case in which a 911 operator sounded confused and rattled during a 10-minute called from Denise Amber Lee, a 21-year-old mother who was abducted and later found murdered. Her parents have since used her case to encourage more training for 911 staff.

And this week, the Palm Beach Post reported that Lee’s parents are against closing off access to the tapes for that reason. The Post also reported that the push for the measure has come from House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala.

Rep. Will Snyder, R-Stuart, and chairman of the Criminal & Civil Justice Policy Council, said he’s confident a balance can be struck on the issue. While disclosure is often used for prurient motives, oversight is needed to address mishandled 911 calls that Snyder said are few and far between.

“I think there is a lot of room for compromise going forward,” Snyder said.