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Cell Phone Ban In Effect For Balt. City Employees

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Sep 17, 2008 11:23 pm US/Eastern

Cell Phone Ban In Effect For Balt. City Employees

Reporting
Dennis Edwards

The crackdown on cell phone use and driving becomes a reality in Baltimore.

Dennis Edwards reports city leaders banned the practice for all city workers.

The mayor says it's about safety, but the FOP calls the ban needless and won't rule out a possible challenge in the future.

It's something city employees in all agencies can't do anymore: drive and talk on their cell phones.

With a 3-2 vote in the city Board of Estimates, a ban on cell phone use effectively makes it a violation of city policy for employees to use a cell phone, blue tooth device, digital music players or personal electronic devices while working.

"Even though the city has not had a lot of accidents directly related to cell phone use, what we're trying to do is take steps to prevent a serious accident from happening," said Susan Sharver, Baltimore risk manager.

"When people doing city business in our cars, in vehicle and trucks, we want them to be responsible and focus on what they need to do and not on their Blackberrys, etc," said Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Now that city workers can't use a cell phone to stay in touch, what will they do if they find themselves or their families in some sort of emergency?

The mayor says police can still use their walkie talkies to communicate during emergencies, but the FOP opposes the ban.

The police union says department regulations already restrict the use of cell phones while officers are on duty.

"Just a silly rule that is not needed at this time," said Paul Blair with the FOP.

The ban goes into effect immediately. The mayor says the city will be watching its employees through workers assigned to keep an eye out for violators.

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