SCOTT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE CAN NOW IDENTIFY CALLS TO EMERGENCY LINE

BENTON -- The Scott County sheriff's office has a new tool to assist in emergency calls and to track various other calls, including pranks.

Sheriff Bill Ferrell said all calls to the sheriff's office are monitored by Caller I.D. The identification mechanism covers all six department lines.

"This will give us a way to track calls," he said. "When people call in for emergencies, they are often in a panic and this will help us trace the call if our dispatchers are disconnected from the caller for some reason."

Lt. Brenda Schiwitz said the Caller I.D. box would also help keep a log for bookkeeping purposes.

"We can keep track of the number of incoming calls received in a day," she said.

The sheriff's primary goal for investing in Caller I.D. was for the safety of the Scott County citizens -- to be used as an aid to help deputies in the haste of making emergency calls.

However, Ferrell said, "I wouldn't mind catching a few prank phone callers who jeopardize other people's safety by tying up the phone lines with useless, or sometimes harmful pranks."

A majority of the sheriff's department calls are not emergency related, but as the implementation of the Scott-New Madrid E911 System gets closer to reality, there is a greater chance the department's deputies will answer and respond to more frequent emergency calls.

"It's not an elaborate system -- not that different from what homeowners have available, but it will enhance our present capabilities, giving us more power in our communication with the residents of Scott County," Ferrell said.