911 Is Baja California's Emergency Number Starting October

One of the first states in Mexico, as rest of the country transitions to number

By Staff2016-09-30T00:43:20+00:00

On Oct. 3 of this year, the State of Baja California will lead the transition, along with eleven other states in Mexico, to adopt 9-1-1 as the number for an emergency, like in the United States.

The deputy director of the Command Center of Control and Communication (C-4), Cesar Garcia, said in an interview to Channel 66 the process will take place from Oct. 3 to March 2017.

The change is scheduled to happen in three stages. The first is changing public campaigns to reflect the new numbers for police and firefighters. Both Baja California and Mexico already had a number for ALL emergencies: 066.

The second stage will be to telephone companies to provide the exact data of the location where the call is being made, even if its from a cellphone.

Another benefit this change will bring is the creation of a crime map.

"All operators are required to georeference the calls, with the information we collect we can create these crimen maps with all the high-crime areas," stressed Cesar Garcia of C-4.

It is expected that by 2017 the number will be available throughout Mexico to offer a more specialized and faster service to citizens.

The number 066 will remain in function for another period, about one year until the transition to the 911 emergency number is completed.