Omaha police want 911 calls about smoking

OMAHA, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- City officials and police in Omaha, Neb., are taking a new anti-smoking ordinance so seriously, they want cheaters reported through the 911 emergency system.

The city passed an ordinance that bans smoking in 97 percent of the city's businesses effective Oct. 2, and while there have been hardly any complaints of smokers defying the ban, police consider it just as serious as reporting a road accident, homicide or assault, WorldNetDaily reported Monday.

Despite the police department's opinion, Douglas County Emergency director Mark Conrey warned that trivializing the 911 telephone system to report by-law and ordinance infractions threatens its reliability and could compromise response times, the report said.

http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.upi.com%2FNewsTrack%2Fview.php%3FStoryID%3D20061023-022459-8720r

Dispatcher: Attention all units:
We have an Emergency...There's a Felon Smoking AND Jaywalking...
Use Deadly Force!!!

.....number several times for things I considered to be non-emergencies only to be transfered over to the 911 emergency number. The bottom line is, if you are calling about something that MIGHT require an officer sent out, they are going to route your call to a dispatch operator - The most efficient way is to do it through 911.

I think they need to put a "shoot to kill" into effect here. If a citizen sees someone smoking a cigarette, the citizen should have the right to pull a gun and blow the nasty smoker away. 911 calls should be left open for cats in trees and toes stuck in bathtub faucets.




:sarcasm: <--- I'm guessin' I need that

pretty soon there will be no difference. Now where can I go to get signed up for my medical tobacco ID card?

Pathetic morons.

For the police or ambulance in a real emergency, will his death be attributed to cigarettes?

They will just throw that statistic into the same bracket as the 420 pound man that drank hamburger fat, never got off his couch and smoked, and died from smoking.

http://www.ketv.com/news/10106207/detail.html

>>The Mayor's Hot Line hasn't had any complaint calls, the 911 dispatch director said call volume related to smoking complaints has been "insignificant," and city prosecutor Marty Conboy said he hasn't had any citations cross his desk<<

>>"So far, we have not seen any reports or citations. And as near as I can tell, there have not been any arrests."

Servers at Billy Frogg's told KETV NewsWatch 7 that in the two weeks since the ban passed, they feel their health is improving. The women report fewer headaches and less eye irritation.

The restaurant also reports business has stayed the same since the ban took effect.

OH THE HORROR!

Yup. I'm so sure they do.

:eyes: