No, but it DID result in the rate of robberies and assaults dropping, didn't it? Cause and effect. You are just choosing one possible effect and citing it to "prove" your point when other effects disprove it.

I put it to you this way. Since the cell phone has become so commonplace, non-emergency calls currently make up about 2/3 of the total number of calls to 911, with a significant part being "stupid" calls (asking directions, locked keys in car, want to know what's holding up traffic). What happened? Cell phones have been around for DECADES. Why the increase? Because they got CHEAP, just like PLBs and other emergency signaling devices are now getting cheap. Cheap means lots of devices floating around - and some inevitably get into the hands of "stupid" people.

Let's face it - there are some REALLY STUPID PEOPLE in this world. When those people have devices like PLBs and SPOTs, the same thing that happened with cheap cell phones will happen with those devices too. They will use them inappropriately. Except in this case, there is no two-way conversation, no way to determine if this is a "stupid" call or not. You have to treat every activation like a real emergency.

You see, I don't have to prove that abuse will happen, because it already does happen every day with 911 calls. Now can you imagine the chaos if, like PLBs, cellphones only had a "911" button on them? No way to get any more information other than "This is an emergency"? Officers would be rolling to calls for someones turkey that didn't cook right, or because somebody got the wrong order from Burger Thing. Translating this to PLBs - "I forgot my sleeping bag and thought that I could just tough it out", "A 'possum got in our food and now I think everything's contaminated", "We ran out of toilet paper, do you have some?"

Yeah, these calls from "stupid" people sure are gonna save SAR a lot of money. Right. Just remember to buy my new backpack stickers that say "Push the button and PAY!"