KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An error in the dispatching of a 911 call may have lead to the death of Clinton Police Officer Christopher Ryan Morton.
The 911 call that led Clinton Police officers to the wrong house where a gunman opened fire, striking three officers.
According to the Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper Sgt. Bill Lowe, the call came from a landline.
"The 911 call that came in, we were later able to determine that it was not from that residence in which they were responding to," said Lowe.
According to USA Today, your chance of 911 getting a quick fix on location ranges from as low as 10 percent to as high as 95 percent.
Hassan Al-Rubaie is the 911 service manager for the Mid America Regional Council, also known as MARC. MARC is responsible for maintaining all of the 911 equipment in 119 cities and 9 counties in Missouri and Kansas.
"911 was based on old copper-based telephone technology that's been around forever, whereas all the apps out here were born in a digital era," said Al-Rubaie.
Al-Rubaie said 911 technology is far behind cell phone technology. He said the FCC has challenged carrier to improve their pinpoint technology in the coming years.
He said an overall system update would need support from taxpayers.
"Funding in Missouri is suffering because Missouri is the only state in the country that does not have a wireless funding mechanism for 911," said Al-Rubaie.
