Legal News

Media Advisory On How To Obtail 911 Calls From Sept 11th

New York, March 29, 2006 – The New York City Law Department today announced that CDs would be made available on Fri., March 31, 2006, containing portions of calls to the City’s 911 emergency response system relating to the tragic attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.  Most of the calls that will be released will be from persons who were calling 911 from the Trade Center.  Pursuant to a decision by the New York State Court of Appeals in March 2005 recognizing the privacy interests of those who called and their families, only the operators’ and dispatchers’ part of calls will be released. 
[Note: There have been some breaking legal issues relating to this that will be addressed later in our advisory.]

Due to an anticipated high demand at this time, the calls will be made available to accredited press members only.  One set of CDs will be provided to each news organization.  The following Q&A should answer any questions you have, including how to obtain copies:

Q – What records concerning Sept. 11th will be released on Fri., March 31, 2006?

A – The City is releasing portions of the calls made to the 911 emergency response system on Sept. 11, 2001, concerning the attack on the World Trade Center. 

One CD will contain audio recordings made by the Police Department, which will include the Police Department operators’ part of the conversation and generally, if the call was transferred to the Fire Department or the Emergency Medical Service (“EMS”) (which is a part of the Fire Department), the Fire Department or EMS operators’ part of the call as well. 

Other CDs will contain the Fire Department’s audio recordings and transcripts of the operators’ words – i.e. the operators’ words that follow the Police Department’s transfer of the call to the Fire Department or EMS, or the independent call to the Fire Department.

Q – Are these being released pursuant to a legal decision?

A – Yes.  In 2002, The New York Times and nine family members sought to obtain the records under the State’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) against the New York City Fire Department.  The Times and the other petitioners had argued that disclosure was in the public’s best interest.  The City had argued that privacy needs of the callers should be paramount given the intensely emotional and private nature of the calls and the related communications. 

Seeking to balance the need for an historical record versus the privacy of anguished victims of Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Court of Appeals – the state’s highest court – ruled in March 2005 that portions of Fire Department radio dispatch communications, “oral history” interviews with firefighters, and emergency calls made to the City’s 911 system were subject to public disclosure under New York State’s Freedom of Information Law, but with certain permissible eliminations (“redactions”) intended to protect the individuals’ privacy.

The New York Times had also made a request, under the State’s Freedom of Information Law, to the Police Department, for their records of 911 calls from the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.  The Police Department is producing its records in accordance with the guidelines established by the Court in the Fire Department’s case. 

Q – Have the Fire Department’s internal dispatch recordings and “oral histories” already been released?

A – Yes.  The New York City Fire Department issued these on Aug. 12, 2005. 

If your media outlet does not yet have copies and wants them, it can request them in writing.  Please send a note on your news organization’s letterhead, along with a copy of your press credential and a check or money order for $27 U.S. (to cover copying costs and shipping & handling).  The check should be made out to “New York City Fire Department.”  Please forward the request to: Fire Department Public Records Unit, Main Floor, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, New York 11201, USA.

Q – So the 911 calls being released this Friday are different, right?

A – Yes. The previously-released dispatch recordings were of internal Fire Department communications. The oral histories were interviews of firefighters and EMS workers conducted after the tragedy about the events of that day.  The 911 calls being released on Fri., March 31st represent emergency calls placed on Sept. 11th.

Read more at nyc.gov

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