A. The legislature finds that:

(1) isolated people, the elderly, the young and victims of crime are often at risk and without help;

(2) children, elderly persons and victims of crime are frequently unable to explain directions to the location of an emergency situation;

(3) life-threatening accidents, fires, crimes and natural disasters occur in the state each year;

(4) an enhanced 911 telephone emergency system provides:

(a) expansion of the benefits of the basic 911 emergency telephone number;

(b) faster response time which minimizes the loss of life and property;

(c) automatic routing to the appropriate emergency response unit;

(d) immediate visual display of the location and telephone number of the caller; and

(e) curtailment of abuses of the emergency system by documenting callers; and

(5) New Mexico communities could make efficient use of the enhanced 911 telephone emergency system if the communities had adequate funding available.

B. It is the purpose of the Enhanced 911 Act to further the public interest and protect the safety, health and welfare of the people of New Mexico by enabling the development, installation and operation of enhanced 911 emergency reporting systems to be operated under shared state and local governmental management and control.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 25, § 2; 1993, ch. 48, § 3.

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, in Subsection A, deleted former Paragraphs (4), (5), and (8) relating to the availability of the 911 emergency number and system, redesignated former Paragraphs (6) and (7) as current Paragraphs (4) and (5), and substituted "curtailment" for "curtailing" in subparagraph (4)(e); and in Subsection B, inserted "shared state and" near the end.