I just called 911

[Rilchiam]

Not for me. I heard a woman screaming outside my window. I mean screaming like she was terrified. Ten minutes before that, I heard a car peel out and get honked at by another car. May be unrelated. Anyway, it sounds like across the street, or maybe the next street. The dispatcher said they'd send someone. I know they know this street because we have a good taco stand and a neighborhood watch.

[Rilchiam]

Right after I made the call, a helicopter started buzzing my street. I mean, specifically my street; our front gate was illuminated several times. Then a cop car drove past.

I watched for a few minutes, then came back upstairs. Soon as I did, the phone rang. I was informed that no one had found anything, and did I have any more info? No, but I definitely heard screaming. And our street was being buzzed; maybe it was connected with that. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Jeez, I hope I don't end up on a shit list for making a false call or something.

Mr. Rilch: Who was on the phone?

Me: The cops.

[Tsubaki]

Better to be safe than sorry, Rilchiam. I think you did the right thing, for sure.

Was that your 911 christening?

[mudcrutch]

Things like that seem to happen in my neighborhood all the time.

A couple nights ago I heard some yelling and a car speeding away in front of my house. At 3:30 in the morning. When I looked out the window I saw tail-lights down at the end of the street and a person running away from my neighbors house (across the street). He seemed to be pretty close her house because he was jumping through all the bushes and flowers and stuff trying to get away.

I still don't know what all that was about. I'll mention this to my neighbor the next time I see her.

[Rilchiam]

Tsubaki: Thanks. Unfortunately, I've called 911 before. One incident turned out to be a woman having a psychotic episode. I wasn't sure I believed the guy who was trying to restrain her when he told the spectators that, but when she went off on the cops, calling them the Antichrist, or something to that effect, I was convinced. Also called an ambulance once for a neighbor. I don't speak much Spanish, but I know what "Dios mio!" means, especially when spoken by a guy clutching his left arm. (He was ultimately okay.)

mudcrutch: Eek! Definitely tell her!

[jacksen9]

The cops would not send a chopper out based solely on a 911 call. Something must have really happened and they wanted to know if you had any other information.

[Rilchiam]

jacksen9: Oh, I know they wouldn't. Plus which, it arrived so suddenly after my call, I knew it couldn't have been related anyway. When I heard it, I thought, "Maybe they're looking for someone who did a crime, and what I heard was the fugitives taking a hostage."

What they told me was "We didn't find anything." I wasn't able to give them a specific building or area, and there was no more screaming by the time they got there.

I don't know how these things work. Maybe the cops who arrived in the car were only supposed to follow up on the screaming-woman report, but not allowed to assist the chopper's search, because they were two different calls. I do know that they didn't capture anyone on my street. (Mr. Rilch and I once witnessed someone being arrested after being run to earth, so to speak, by a helicopter search.)

[papergirl]

I've only had to call 911 once, after I watched a man scream at and threaten his wife on the street for just about 10 seconds too long. (I actually went and TOLD him to stop or I'd call the police, how insane is that?!) I literally heard the sirens as I hung up the phone, and within two minutes there were two police cars on the scene. Very gratifying.

My 18 month old daughter, on the other hand, has called 911 TWICE. The last time, she dialed it twice in a row. I had no idea until two police cars pulled into my drive.

I bet they have our name on a list somewhere: the Irritating-but-ya-never-know list.

I'm glad you called, Rilch. I'm a firm believer in taking some sort of action.
~karol

[ResIpsaLoquitor]

I've called 911 once: Halloween 1999. I heard something resembling an explosion outside my house, and lo and behold, two dozen teenagers outside my home were getting ready to rumble. (The explosion, as I recall, turned out to be a car driving over a box.)

Nonetheless, I wasn't about to let a teenage brawl break out on my property. I think I officially hit old age that day, when I yelled "Hey you damn kids! Get off my lawn!"

[Little Bird]

I dial 911 all the time.....on accident. See, I'm a telephone operator at my university hospital (a "telecommunications specialist," if you will) and we have 911 on speed dial. Unfortunately, it's right above the paging button. So, when it gets a bit crazy, and I'm lunging for the page button...oops! Sorry 911! I think they have learned to deal with us.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I've called 911 a few times, only once was for myself when my back went out.

• a domestic disturbance a block up from where I lived at the time.
• late one night when I was woken up by a loud bang, followed by the powerlines across the street shorting out. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on but called 911 anyway. Turned out a car hit one of the utility poles nearby.
• smoke in the stairwell. Downstairs neighbor went out and left a hotplate on.
• car accident a few blocks away. No LEOs were on scene yet and one of the vechicles was in the middle of a busy intersection.

Sometimes I feel I should report things that aren't really an emergency, like when I called the non-emergency number to report some gang activity in the neighborhood. I was on my way home one night when I saw some guy beaned by a beer bottle; I reported the getaway car.

[plnnr]

Called to report someone rappelling down from the roof of the Arts Building at college. They went in through an open window. I later learned that they were students who had not completed a project required for their graduation and the classroom door was locked. I had just finished taking a very large hit off a joint and wasn't quite sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing.

Called to report a forest fire in the back of my house (kids playing with matches burned down 17 acres of forest).

Called to report that the neighbors across the court yard from my apartment were just moments away from killing each other in a domestic dispute. Him (in a drunken slur): "You bitch! You don't love me anymore!" SLAP! CRASH! Her (in an equally drunken slur): "But I DO love you! Why won't you believe me?" CRASH!
They were evicted.

[Siege]

I called 911 once years ago when I was living in Waikiki (Hi, Osiris). I'd just gotten out of the shower when I heard rather blood-curdling shreiks. I didn't have a phone at the time, so I threw some clothes on, ran to the nearest pay phone, then ran back to where the shreiks were coming from. The rational part of me was thinking "This is incredibly stupid. If someone's being attacked, what are you going to do with yourself, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and nothing else!"

It turned out a girl had just broken up with her boyfriend and was taking it exceptionally hard. When the police arrived, she tried to throw herself in the Ala Wai Canal, maybe 50 feet from where this happened.

CJ

[Eats_Crayons]

I've called 911 twice.

Once because a bunch of teenagers were vandalizing to knock over tombstones in a Jewsish cemetary. Cops never came. Plenty of damage, and I never got close enough to identify anyone.

Second time, my neighbour burned his supper. Like really burned his supper. It had happened once before when he fell asleep with his food in the oven (he left for work at a ridiculous hour and was exhausted by the dinner hour.) That time, his smoke detector went off, and he was quick to open his windows and wave a towel in front of it.

Once day, his smoke detector kept, coming on, then going off, then coming on then going off. It really smelled like "burnt dinner" so I wasn't concerned yet. I knocked on his door -- no answer. I peeked in the kitchen window to make sure everything was under control. Everything looked alright, but smelled like "burnt TV dinner."

My GF (now ex) called and while we were on the phone, the smoke detector came on again, and this time it stayed on, so I told her "um, that alarm's gone off again... I think I'm going to have to call someone." (I was quite sure it was burnt dinner, but better to be safe than sorry, especially since my neighbour wasn't coming to the door).

The fire department peeked in the kitchen window, this time "it looked hazy". They broke in through the back door. One fireman took the burned stuff out of the stove, two others had to wake up my neighbour. The fire had been contained in the oven, but had caused just enough smoke that after nodding off, the smoke kept him thoroughly zonked out. They got him to wake up, but he was disoriented and woozy.

They got him walking around outside and he was fine, albeit quite embarassed.

[Terminus Est]

Originally posted by Little Bird
we have 911 on speed dial

How hard is it to dial 911?

[Little Bird]

Yeah, I don't get it either. :shrug:

[Wikkit]

I called 911 once. Twice, actually.

There's a phone number that you can call that will tell you what phone number you're calling from. The phone company doesn't tell people what the number is, and it's different everywhere.

So, as a stupid, yet perseverent, young teenage phreak, I started wardialing by hand through all three digit numbers. I hit 911 without thinking about it. I immediately hung up, and then realized that hanging up isn't the best way to reassure the 911 people, so I called back and said I hit the wrong number.

They sent a cop anyway. 45 minutes later a sheriff came by and woke everyone up, except me, who was still screwing around. It was like one in the morning...

At some point -- I haven't pinned down the exact date -- I grew up.

[Neptune]

I called 911 a week ago Saturday. For myself!

I was driving an ATV for the first time and managed to lose control and roll it over myself into an outcropping of rocks at 30 km/hr. I managed to push it off and find my cell phone (which had somehow been thrown clear) and call 9-1-1 before collapsing in shock.

"I've just been in an accident. My chest is bleeding, etc, ...."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know. I'm on a trail halfway between a school and a lake that starts with a 'T'.

I wasn't seriously injured and I'm feeling much better now, thank you for asking.

[GuanoLad]

Neptune: They found you from that description?

[Typo Negative]

Originally posted by Rilchiam
. I know they know this street because we have a good taco stand and a neighborhood watch.

A good Taco stand? In North Hollywood?

[Rilchiam]

spooje: Poquito Mas. I think it's good. All right, it's not really a taco stand, but I was rushing through the OP.

[handy]

" How hard is it to dial 911?"

Try finding eleven on your phone.

I haven't called them but I have asked others to call them for me. It makes me nervous
cause in my city they send the cops, paramedics & FD for anything.

[Eonwe]

I called 911 once when I was on campus (of course, it dialed into the campus police). I was hanging out in my room when there was some crying and arguing happening outside. I peeked out my window and saw a guy and girl, both aparently drunk fighting, and she was very upset, and repeatedly asked him to leave her alone, let her go, and he wasn't up for it, and was physically restraining her. After watching for about a minute, making sure it was an actual "situation" I called the police. They came, took a statement from me, found the two people (who had since moved on) and made sure that they each went to their respective dorms; the girl didn't want to make any complaint against the guy.

I was definitely wierded out; I was ready to go out there and confront the guy, but I suppose it's better I didn't.

[OESGal]

I've had to call one time, but my family several times. We live right next to the entrance to a park trail and people sometimes have heart attacks, lose people they're with, etc. The one I called for was a lady came to our door saying she saw someone in the woods on the trail she thought was having a heart attack. Turns out he was just severely dehydrated, but they took him away in an ambulance anyway. One time my family had to call was a lady said she was jogging with her husband and he got ahead of her and she lost track of him. My Dad called 911 and turns out the guy had had a hear attack and died, poor guy, felt so bad for that woman too.

[Icarus]

Originally posted by Rilchiam
spooje: Poquito Mas. I think it's good. All right, it's not really a taco stand, but I was rushing through the OP.

Mmmmmmm.....

Poquito Mas es muy bueno........

[Sue Duhnym]

I just called 911 yesterday morning. Here's the post from my LJ:

Approx 5AM Pacific

I just called 911.

I woke up about 2 hours ago and came downstairs to grab a drink and our backyard lights were on. The thing is, you can only turn the lights on from inside the house and I know, am positive, I turned them off before I went to bed. Not only are they part of my evening routine but they're very bright lights and I remember feeling my way into the hall on my way upstairs.

All the doors were locked but the lights were on. Which meant that they either went on by themselves, someone turned them on and was still in the house, or someone who has a key to the house turned them on and left, deadbolting the doors from the outside.

My husband is out of town and the nanny left at 10PM. I don't sleepwalk.

I tried to call Hubby in NYC for an hour before he answered because I wanted to double check that the lights had interior switches only. I had locked Kiddo and I in her bedroom and refused to go back downstairs. He recommended that I call 911, so I did.

The officer came out and checked everything, the whole house and all closets and there's nothing. He suggested that maybe I was misremembering.

So now I feel like an idiot.

And to top it off, my husband is having security problems because he wouldn't get on his flight to Toronto and his bag was already checked. He missed some guy he's been trying to interview for months and now he's changed his flight to Cleveland and they're hand checking everything.

On the plus side, they did pull his bag from the Toronto flight so security in NYC is working.

Oh, and Kiddo and I are alive. That's a plus too.

PS The jacuzzi panel (right above one of the light switces) indicated that the jacuzzi has shorted out. Could that have something to do with it? The other light switch is in the laundry room, about 20 feet from the other switch.

[Cat Whisperer]

I've called the police for domestic disturbances two times - once was when I was living in an apartment above a public phone, and I could hear a woman on the phone having a violent argument on the phone and also with a guy who was with her - he hit her, she screamed, I called the police. The second time was when my neighbours in my paper-thin-walled condo were having a big screamfest before work - they woke me up and scared my cats, then he started slamming her around and she started screaming, so I called the police. No one makes women scream like that without discussing it with the police on my watch. In both cases, the police never made me give a name or a statement or anything, which I was glad for. I'll happily call the police to break up a fight, but I have no particular interest in going to court for someone else's problems. I would if I had to; just don't particularly want to.

[Rasa]

I called 911 accidentally once.

My friend's mom had died, and me and said friend were at another friend's apartment in Northampton. I was in college at UMass Amherst at the time.

My friends had both been drinking and were in pretty rough shape that night. Lots of drunken reminiscing and stuff.

For some reason, I called my mom, and we got into a huge fight. I don't remember why. It was awful. Someone called on the other line, and I tried to answer it, but pressed the wrong button. Didn't think anything of it.

I got off the phone, very shaken and crying. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. I went to the door to get it, and there were two NoHo cops at the door. Tim came up to the door behind me and put his hand on my shoulder to kind of lean over me to see who it was.

The policeman said "We received a 911 call, hangup, from this location. What's the problem?" I realized I must've hit the speed dial emergency button, and explained this. They looked at Tim, in his torn t-shirt, looked at me, and said, "Miss? Will you step outside please?" So I went into the hallway and they shut the door.

The policeman said "Are you sure you're all right? You look upset, and his shirt is ripped... was there a fight? You can come with us right now and you'll be safe."

I felt so guilty! I told them that no, I truly was ok, and Tim was just a bad dresser, and that our friend's mom had died and I had just had an upsetting conversation with my mom. They shrugged and said "Ok."

It was good to know though that they got there so fast, and they did seem genuinely concerned that I was ok.

[Biggirl]

I've called 911 twice.

The couple next door to us used to fight all the time. I mean knock down the pictures-on-our-wall type fights. My husband and I would knock on their door when it got really bad and tell them to stop. They both would look very annoyed that we didn't mind our buisness. One night the fighting started. Then their small daughter started yelling: "Daddy, put down the knife!" I didn't knock on the door this time. I called the cops.

The police were there in less than 2 minutes. They took the husband away in cuffs. A week later the husband was back, banging on the door to be let in. He came at least once a week. She never let him back in again.

The second time I called 911, I was looking out my 4th floor window. There was some construction going on in the building across the street. 3 guys grabbed another one and dragged him, literaly kicking and screaming, into the construction site and pulled down a heavy gate behind them.

I dialed 911. Two policemen were there a few moments after I hung up the phone. It was broad daylight and my block is pretty busy. There were people on the street. When the cops got out of their car, people on the street pointed out the gate. The police pulled out three guys in a very ungentle fashion. They assisted the fourth guy out and he got in an ambulance.

[Ringo]

There's no way I could recall all of my 911 calls. Skipping the dramas of my own life, I'll note that I am regarded as the 911 King at my office.

I was a fire marshall for a few years, and in our training one incident was related wherein a group of people in a conference room up at Greenspoint watched an apartment complex burn. One of them complained that it took 25-30 minutes for the HFD to respond. As it turned out, nobody amongst the spectators in the conference room had called 911. Being midday at an apartment complex populated by working people who were all off at work at the time, it was a little while before the fire was noticed and reported.

The lesson was taken to heart. I now office in a building that overlooks a major traffic artery's intersection with a freeway. Lotta good smashups here. And the office has come to expect me to be the one to call. Our receptionist knows that, if the police department calls, it's for me.