Religious News - Priest killing prompts dispatcher concerns

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Priest killing prompts dispatcher concerns

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (UPI) -- New Jersey state officials said the killing of a priest in Chatham, N.J., highlights the need for an updated emergency response system.

Outdated phone technology and police equipment are blamed for emergency dispatchers' inability to locate where the Rev. Edward Hinds was calling from prior to his death last week, The (Newark) New Jersey Star-Ledger reported Thursday.

Hinds called 911 last Thursday, but authorities were unable to determine the location of the emergency after the call was disconnected.

Hinds' body was found last Friday inside St. Patrick church with various injuries, including 32 stab wounds. Jose Feliciano, a 64-year-old janitor at the church, was charged in connection with the killing.

New Jersey state Assemblyman Frederick Scalera said he hopes to improve the emergency dispatch technology in the state within three years.

"It would be impossible for a cell phone to tell you what address you're at," Scalera said. "But when it is completely up and running, it can tell you within so many feet of where the call came from."

An unidentified state spokeswoman told the Star-Ledger that cell phones were used in more than half of the 7.5 million 911 calls made in the state in 2008.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 10/29/2009

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