We are used to hearing about people obtaining phone records for the wrong reasons these days.  For instance if there is an undercover police officer who is trying to stay under a guise they would not want the bad guys being able to access their phone records and figure out who they are.  If the bad guys were to access their cell phone records and find out who they were, it could be a life threatening situation.  However, there are also situations in which obtaining phone records can be rewarding and helpful.

For 911 phone records this is especially true.  People call 911 when they are in danger or if something frightening has happened and they need help.  All phone calls made to the police or fire department are automatically recorded so they can be used for future use.  911 phone calls could be used in a case of death where it was thought to be a homicide.

They can use the phone records to tell the date and time of the crime and use it to help them figure out just what happened.  They can be used in a criminal case where a death has occurred.  911 phone records and tapes can also be used to show a family’s grief when there has been a murder.  A prime example of this was on the Oprah Winfrey show recently where the murder of Bud and Melanie Billings was the topic of discussion.

The 911 phone records and tapes were used to show how distraught and upset the family was.  This was a tragic, horrifying story and these tapes can be used to help people understand what the family is going through.  911 phone records more than anything are used in police investigations where a time and date of a crime need to be used to find the perpetrator.  Although even the caller and 911 dispatcher may not realize how important a call is, in the long run it could be the missing piece to the puzzle.

There is much more security around the 911 phone records however, and they are usually only obtainable through the police department.  They are much harder to hack into and this is important because these phone records should only be used by the authorities.  This is a good thing considering that when people call into 911 the last thing they are thinking is that their phone records can then be traced back to them.  However we do often see writers and bloggers like Perez Hilton able to nab these records and use them on their sites.