National Do Not Call Registry

Citation

(2013), "National Do Not Call Registry", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 36 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2013.18136baa.002

National Do Not Call Registry

Article Type: Policing on the web From: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Volume 36, Issue 2.

As any local law enforcement official can attest, police officers are routinely called upon to address a wide array of situations. Police are asked to address everything from homicides to hostage situations to incidents of domestic violence to shoplifting incidents to complaints about barking dogs. While most of these calls for service certainly fall within the bailiwick of local law enforcement, occasionally police are asked to address problems about which they have no clear jurisdiction over or about which they can do relatively nothing to address the problem. Such is often the case involving citizen complaints regarding an annoying telemarketer. While the ability of the local law enforcement official to bring such calls to a stop is limited, there is a resource which might be of assistance – the National Do Not Call Registry. A further amendment to the Telemarketing Sales Rule in 2007 did away with an expiration of consumers’ enrollment on the National Do Not Call Registry.

In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission amended the Telemarketing Sales Rule to establish a national list of consumers who wished do not wish to be contacted by telemarketers. The resulting National Do Not Call Registry is one of many tools that the Federal Trade Commission has created to regulate telemarketing calls.

For local law enforcement officers, the web site for the National Do Not Call Registry can be an invaluable resource to which complainants can be referred. Consumers who wish to opt out of such calls need only visit the registry web site (www.donotcall.gov), click on a link to the registration page, enter up to three home or cell phone numbers and in 31 days or less the annoying telemarketing calls will stop. It is important to note that while registering one's number with the FTC will stop most solicitation calls, it may not stop all such calls. The Federal Trade Commission has made allowance for some types of organizations to call consumers even though their numbers are on the National Do Not Call Registry (e.g. political and charitable organizations seeking donations are exempt from the telemarketing rule). In the event that a consumer who has entered his/her number on the National Do Not Call Registry receives any telemarketing calls after the 31 day grace period, the above web site can be used to report those violations to the Federal Trade Commission for investigation.

In conclusion, while there is little that can be done to convince that noisy Labrador retriever down the street that it is indeed past his bedtime, there is a way that local law enforcement officials can assist complainants in dealing with the annoyance of a series of unwanted telemarketing calls. They can send the complainant to the website for the National Do Not Call Registry.

J.W. Carter IICollege of Mount St. Joseph, Cincinnati, OH