PRIVACYLEGILSATION FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
Subd. 3a. [Audio Recording of 911Call] The audio recording of a call placed to a 911 system forthe prupose of requesting service from a law enforcement, fire,or medical agency is private data on on individuals with respectto the inividual making the call, except that a writtentranscript of the audio recording is public, unless it revealsthe identity of an individual otherwise protected undersubdivision 10. A transcript shall be prepared upon requst. Theperson requesting the transcript shall pay the actual cost oftranscribing the call, in addition to any other applicable costsprovided under section 13.03, subdivision 3. The audio recordingmay be disseminated to alw enforcement agencies for investigativepurposes. The audio recording may be used for public safetydispatcher training purposes.
PRIVACY LEGISLATIONFOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
St. Louis County911 Communication Center
Department Policy 91-214 (rev.3/95
Purpose: To provide guidance tothe staff of the Department of Emergency Communications and UserAgencies, regarding the public release of data obtainedfrom the 9-1-1 system and any voice recordings resulting fromcalls to the 9-1-1 system.
Background: In 1944, the MinnesotaLegislature enacted an amendment to the MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT DATAPRACTICE ACT which changes the “protected” status ofthe information we receive when we answer a 9-1-1 call. Thespecific text of the new amendment is attached to this policy forour reference. The intent of this change in the law was toprovide the opportunity to better protect the identify of callersto the 9-1-1 system.
Specifically, the law permits usto withhold from public release, certain data that result from a9-1-1 call, provided that one or more conditions be met. The datathat may qualify for withholding from public release areas follows:
1. The name of the person makingthe 9-1-1 call, even if their name is
different than the name on the ALI(Automatic Location Identification)
display screen.
2. The name of the phone servicesubscriber, whose phone was used
to place a call to a 9-1-1 system,even if that subscriber was not the
caller.
3. The telephone number from whicha call to the 9-1-1 system was placed.
4. The address associated with thephone number from which the call was ]
placed.
5. The address of the callerthemselves, even if the caller was not the person named on theALI display, and it was not their address on the ALI display
6. The telephone number of thecaller, even if the calelr was not the
person wth the number displayed onthe Ali display screen.
7. The actual voice recording ofany 9-1-1 call.
Any or all this data may bewithheld, but such withholding cannot be assumed to be automatic.In order for us, in fact, to be able to withhold this data, wemust be able to determine that one of the following conditionsapply:
A. That release of the data wouldidentify an individual and if identified, that there may bea personal safety or property threat to any person (not
just the caller).
-OR-
B. That it was the intent, eitherexplicityly stated or implicit, on the part
of the caller or someone callingon the caller?s behalf “to receive help in
a mental health emergency”.the law provides no concrete definition as
to what is meant by “help ina mental health emergency”.
-OR-
C. The request to remainanonymous.
Department Policy
Any person other than aProsecuting Attorney (St. Louis County Attorney?s Office)requesting data must do so in writing to the St. Louis CountyCommunications Department at 4848 Lackland Street, Duluth, MN55811. The written requewt should include
The reason for the request
Requester?s name, address, telephone number
Type of reqsponse that was requested (Police, Fire, EMS)
Address of incident
Date or dates
Time (as specific as possible)
If known, the phone number from which 9-1-1 was called
Name (s) of parties involved
There is a cost associated withthe provision of a transcript. The following fees apply:
Copy of above stated information:No charge.
Written transcript of 9-1-1telephone “request for service” above described
Minimum fee of $25 processing feeplus $25/hour or any partial hour.
In order to implement this lawchange into our operational procedures, the following policiesshall be in effect effective at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1994:
1. Any and all data obtained as aresult of a 9-1-1 call will always
be available, in any format, to abonafide law enforcement agency for
official investigative purposes,St. Louis County Attorney, or any of our
user agencies for trainingpurposes and in accordance with already established departmentpolicies and current data practices rules.
2. All requests for data that wasderived as the result of a 9-1-1 call that
falls within any of the categoriesabove, and related to a matter that is
criminal in nature, (includingtraffic violations), suspected to be criminal in nature or thatinvolves the use or abuse of property (such as party calls), willhave an initial operational presumption of confidentiality, overthe
telephone or radio.
Explanation: This means that whenwe receive the data
we will treat it as confidential.It also means that the
responding agencies (Police, Fireand Ambulance) should treat
any like data that they receivefrom us as confidential,
initially.
For example, a call is receiveabout suspected drug use.
Police are dispatched. Before thepolice arrive, somebody (other
than the police) hears thedispatch of the call via their scanner
They call asking to know who thecaller was. We should not
provide the data to thatinquirer.
Further, some hours after an eventhas been disposed of, a party calls us in the dispatch centerinquiring as to who the caller was,
or what the address of the callerwas who reported the “XXXX”
at 1234 Main Street earlier. Weshould not provide the data to
that inquirer.
In cases such as the above, theperson making the inquiry
should be referred to theadministrative offices of the
Communications Department. ASupervisor or Lead Dispatcher
will take their request for thedata under advisement and determine the folowing:
A. Does the Law EnforcmentDepartment think the data
shold be withhel, pursuant to thelaw.
B. Does the prosecutor think thedata should be withheld,
pursuant to the law.
C. In some cases, we may inquireof the subject of the data
themselves to dertermine if thereis any reason that the
the data should be withheldpursuant to the law.
D. Does the County Attorney thinkthe data should be
withheld, pursuant to the law.
PRIVACYLEGISLATION FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
Sec. 14. Minnesota Statutes 1992,section 13.82, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 3a. [AUDIO RECORDING OF911 CALL]. The audio recording of a call placed to a 911 systemfor the purpose of requesting service from a law enforcement,fire, or medical agency is private data on individuals withrespect to the individual making the call, except that a writtentranscript of the audio recording is public, unless it revealsthe identity of an individual otherwise protected undersubdivision 10. A transcript shall be prepared upon request. Theperson requesting the transcript shall pay the actual cost oftranscribing the call, in addition to any other applicable costsprovided under section 13.03, subdivision 3. The audio recordingmay be disseminated to law enforcement agencies for investigativepurposes. The audio recording may be used for public safetydispatcher training purposes.
St. Louis County
9-1-1 EmergencyCommunication Center
Departmental Policy91-214 (rev.3/95)
PURPOSE: To provideguidance to the staff of the Department of EmergencyCommunications and User Agencies, regarding the public release ofdata obtained from the 9-1-1 system and any voice recordingresulting from calls to the 9-1-1 system.
BACKGROUND: In 1994,the Minnesota Legislature enacted an amendment to the MINNESOTAGOVERNMENT DATA PRACTICE ACT which changes the”protected”status of the information we receive when weanswer a 9-1-1 call. The specific text of the new amendment isattached to this policy for our reference. The intent of thischange in the law was to provide the opportunity to betterprotect the identity of callers to the 9-1-1 system.
Specifically, the law permits usto withhold from public release, certain data that resultfrom a 9-1-1 call, provided that one or more conditions can bemet. The data that may qualify for withholding from publicrelease are as follows:
The name of the person making the 9-1-1 call, even if their name is different than the name on the ALI (Automatic Location Identification) display screen.
The name of the phone service subscriber, whose phone was used to place a call to a 9-1-1 system, even if that subscriber was not the caller.
The telephone number from which a call to the 9-1-1 system was placed.
The address associated with the phone number from which the call was placed.
The address of the caller themselves, even if the caller was not the person named on the ALI display, and it was not their address on the ALI display.
The telephone number of the caller, even if the caller was not the person with the number displayed on the ALI display screen.
The actual voice recording of any 9-1-1 call.
Any or all of this data may bewithheld, but such withholding cannot be assumed to beAUTOMATIC. In order for us, in fact, to be able to withholdthis data, we must be able to determine that one of thefollowing conditions apply:
That release of the data would identify an individual and if so identified, that there, MAY BE a personal safety or property threat to ANY PERSON (not just the caller).
-OR-
That it was the intent, either explicitly stated or implicit, on the part of the caller or someone calling on the caller’s behalf, “to receive help in a mental health emergency”. The law provides no concrete definition as to what is meant by “help in a mental health emergency”.
-OR-
The request to remain anonymous.
DEPARTMENTPOLICY
Any person other than aProsecuting Attorney (St. Louis County Attorney’s Office)requesting data must do so in writing to the St. Louis CountyCommunications Department at 4848 Lackland Street, Duluth, MN55811. The written request should include:
The reason for the request
Requester’s name, address, telephone number
Type of response that was requested (Police, Fire, EMS)
Address of incident
Date or dates
Time (as specific as possible)
If known, the phone number from which 9-1-1 was called
Name (s) of parties involved
There is a cost associated withthe provision of a transcript. The following fees apply:
Copy of above-stated information:No charge.
Written transcript of 9-1-1 telephone “request for service” above described: Minimum fee of $25 processing fee plus $25/hour or any partial hour.
In order to implement this lawchange into our operational procedures, the following policiesshall be in effect effective at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1994:
Any and all data obtained as a result of a 9-1-1 call will always be available, in any format, to a bonafide law enforcement agency for official investigative purposes, St. Louis County Attorney, or any of our user agencies for training purposes and in accordance with already established department policies and current data practices rules.
All requests for data that was derived as the result of a 9-1-1 call that falls within any of the categories above, and related to a matter that is criminal in nature (including traffic violations), suspected to be criminal in nature or that involves the use or abuse of property (such as party calls), will have an initial operational presumption of confidentiality, over the telephone or radio.
EXPLANATION: This means that when we receive the data we will treat it as confidential. It also means that the responding agencies (Police, Fire and Ambulance) should treat any like data that they receive from us as confidential, initially.
For example, a call is received about suspected drug use. Police are dispatched. Before the police arrive, somebody (other than the police) hears the dispatch of the call via their scanner. They call asking to know who the caller was. We should not provide the data to that inquirer.
Further, some hours after an event has been disposed of, a party calls us in the dispatch center inquiring as to who the caller was, or what the address of the caller was who reported the “XXXX” at 1234 Main Street earlier. We should not provide the data to that inquirer.
In cases such as the above, the person making the inquiry should be referred to the administrative offices of the Communications Department. A Supervisor or Lead Dispatcher will take their request for the data under advisement and determine the following:
Does the Law Enforcement Department think the data should be withheld, pursuant to the law.
B. Does the prosecutor think the data should be withheld, pursuant to the law.
In some cases, we may inquire of the subject of the data themselves to determine if there is any reason that the data should be withheld pursuant to the law.
Does the County Attorney think the data should be withheld, pursuant to the law.
After St. Louis CountyCommunications Administration has undertaken a review of therequest for the data, a decision will then be made, in areasonable time period, as to whether or not the data isreleasable and the requester will be advised of the result ofthat determination. If the determination is that the data shouldbe withheld from public release the requester will be so advisedof that decision and advised of the reasons for that decision.
For the purposes of this law, itmust be understood that there are only three types of”requesters of data: They are:
The Criminal Justice System (Police and Prosecutors)
The General Public (Including the News Media and Lawyers)
User Agencies (Law Enforcement, Fire and First Responders, EMS, and Medical Directors). It is the policy of this department that requests for tape cassette documentation be made by Supervisory personnel only. If it is not, this department will confirm the request through the supervisory chain of command before providing the information.
HOW MUCH DATACAN BE WITHHELD?
As the law specifically states,its only intent is to protect the identity of persons who use the9-1-1 system. It is not the intent of this law to classify everypiece of data we have as confidential. It is quite likely thatthere will be numerous cases where we will release portions ofdata relating to a specific event, but withhold only certain dataelements that would tend to reveal the identity of the caller.
For example, a party calls 9-1-1to report a possible burglary in progress. Later someone asks forthe CAD printout of the event. On that printout is revealed thecaller’s name and phone number, either in their proper fields, orin the remarks section. After review of the matter, it may bedecided to release the printout, but to “black out”those portions that reveal, or tend to reveal, the identity ofthe caller.
HOW DOES THISLAW AFFECT “ANONYMOUS CALLERS”?
Many of our callers already assumethat we are, and have been, protecting their identity when theycall 9-1-1. Prior to this law, our ability to legally do this wasquestionable. Despite this, that is what many of the callersthink already. It is not now, nor has it ever been, arequirement that callers verbally identify themselves in order toreceive emergency services assistance. Callers can still chooseto remain anonymous.
However, in many cases the callerswill specifically request anonymity even though they have givenus their name, or we have it on the ALI screen. In these cases,all staff are reminded that on the CAD event, requests to remainanonymous, if the caller implies a request to remain anonymous,(refuses, hangs up etc.) should be so noted in RP (ReportingParty). Please indicate anonymity by placing an asterisk (*) andreason (Ref, ANON) in the RP field. Information automaticallygenerated or entered in the RA (Reporting address) or PH (Phone)field are to be deleted when there is a request for anonymity.
Emergency Service Responders(especially law enforcement) who are operating on the basis ofdata we provide them, (either verbally or via an MDT), shouldalways be mindful of these “REQUEST FOR ANONYMITY”advisories and, for the purposes of this new law, they should bevery discreet as to how, where, under what circumstances, as towho the caller was, in regard to any given event.
Furthermore, St. Louis CountyDispatchers should be mindful of the fact that many calleridentities contained in the CAD event are derived directly from9-1-1 ALI. Because of this, dispatchers should take precautionswhenever they need to disclose this caller ID information overthe air. For example, an officer is on a portable at a party andasks, “WHO WAS THE COMPLAINANT?” It would be best forthe dispatcher to advise the officer that the complainantrequested anonymity and that data is available on their MDT orvia a phone call to the dispatcher. This way we could avoidunintentional release (or overhearing) of the caller identities.
Finally, it is not the purpose ofthis policy to restrict, or prohibit, the verbal radio broadcastof caller identities, addresses, or phone number in broadcast toemergency service responders, unless they have requestedanonymity, or unless we have a reason to believe that the airingof their identity would jeopardize their safety. While it isalways preferable to have the responders rely on retrieving thisdata, where applicable, from their MDT, it is also recognizedthat not every unit is so equipped, or that not every such unitis always functional and that circumstances may require radiobroadcast of this data.
Any questions regarding thesepolicies should be referred to Department Administration.