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Verizon Tells Cops "Your Money Or Your Life"
Mike writes "A 62-year-old man had a mental breakdown and ran off after grabbing several bottles of pills from his house. The cops asked Verizon to help trace the man using his cellphone, but Verizon refused, saying that they couldn't turn on his phone because he had an unpaid bill for $20. After an 11-hour search (during which time the sheriff's department was trying to figure out how to pay the bill), the man was found, unconscious. 'I was more concerned for the person's life,' Sheriff Dale Williams said. 'It would have been nice if Verizon would have turned on his phone for five or 10 minutes, just long enough to try and find the guy. But they would only turn it on if we agreed to pay $20 of the unpaid bill.' Score another win for the Verizon Customer Service team."
article doesn't say anything about whether or not they followed proper channels. Anybody can call in and say, "Hi, I'm a cop, we need to find Bob, can you turn his phone on then track it?" Any customer service is going to say no. Cops actually have their own support teams that they work with, and generally, they will need things like court orders to access accounts or tracking.
Xaotik Designs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9-1-1#Inactive_telephones
Incorrect. 911 services in the USA must always work from any phone. Even disconnected unpayed cell phones.
Read it again:
during which time the sheriff's department was trying to figure out how to pay the bill
The $20 wasn't the issue. The fucking paperwork was the issue.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!