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Comment by jamornh | Hacker News Reader

This would work if the affected party is making the call. It would still not ensure that the 3rd party caller will get reimbursed. A lot of domestic violence calls are real, yet the victims may not actually confirm that there were, in-fact, abuse (due to shame, fear, whatever) ... the reporter loses money in this case even when he/she just wants to report the crime.

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The system would have to be more deeply integrated, once the report is made there is a response( police/ambulance ) and then they report back whether it was real. This would be made automatic via reports which already exist. The problem is how to integrate all these different systems together.

Who decides which calls are "real"? If I call to report erratic driving but the officers never catch the person, is it "real"? What if I report gunfire but they never find the shooter or a dead body? We WANT people to use 911, the answer to fake calls that overwhelm the system is better education, punishment for fake calls, and possibly more funding. Fake calls are not a function of the number of 911 operators or first responders, so you should be able to fund your way out of the problem in the short term if it is really that bad.

How are you going to punish fake calls if you established that you can't determine them. I agree on the last sentence.

You can't necessarily know that a legitimate call is legitimate, but you can know that some calls are fake, though not necessarily until after you've checked out the situation, hence the last sentence my previous post: you may have to fund your way out of the problem until your enhanced deterrent (increased punishment, whatever) can have an impact.

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