# Calling the police for non-police matters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 13, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892 "2022-07-13T17:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/81 "2022-07-18T17:07:38Z")
Philly has a 311 # but it’s not 24/7 so for something late at night you’re only option for reporting it is to call 911 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/82 "2022-07-18T17:48:43Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Same in Chicago. 311 is for anything that is not an emergency but you think the city needs to do something. If they have that in the Seattle area, they’re keeping it a secret. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/83 "2022-07-18T17:53:51Z")
If you look at the NYC 311 website, it tells you to call 911 for some non-emergencies - and it doesn’t always make sense. I can report a blocked driveway (someone parked in the parking lane across my driveway) via 311 but if someone actually parked in my driveway on my property, it says to call 911 although in either case I cannot get into or out of my driveway. A parked vehicle with unauthorized paper plates gets reported to 311 but someone driving with unauthorized plates gets reported to 911 although the parked car will certainly be driven at some point and it’s unlikely that the police will find the car being driven as a result of a 911 call. You have to call 911 to report certain thefts of property but other thefts and most ( but not all) lost property can be reported online to the police department, but not through 311. It’s a little better than when they told you to call 911 for everything (and you would wait for hours to report a stolen car) but what most likely happens is that people call 911 or 311 and sometimes get told to call the other number - because there is not much chance that I’ll remember which situation gets 911 and which gets 311 when I come home at midnight and can’t get into my driveway. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/84 "2022-07-18T19:09:41Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > A parked vehicle with unauthorized paper plates gets reported to 311 but someone driving with unauthorized plates gets reported to 911 although the parked car will certainly be driven at some point and it’s unlikely that the police will find the car being driven as a result of a 911 call. Rhetorical, I know, but just _how_ are you supposed to know the plates are unauthorized? The expiration date isn’t all that large to see when you’re driving behind someone at a safe distance. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/85 "2022-07-18T19:31:51Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > unauthorized paper plates I know I’m tired when I see this and try to figure out why picnic ware has to be authorized. 🥱🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/86 "2022-07-18T19:32:08Z")
The only way I can think of is something like my neighbor’s car which has always been registered in NY suddenly one day has temporary Texas plates. Which I guarantee happens. I don’t think they are referring only to legit temporary plates that have expired but also to completely fake ones. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/87 "2022-07-18T19:34:45Z")
Reminds me of that old and fun poster @Unauthorized_Cinnamon. You just know she’d put her lunch on an unauthorized paper plate. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/88 "2022-07-18T23:27:33Z")
Calling the police non-emergency line here gets you a phone menu. After the message to call 911 of it’s an emergency, you can choose 1 to 5 plus 0. I know this because my work number is one digit different from the non-emergency line (and one digit different from animal control) and someone leaves voice mail for PD over the weekend a couple of times a year. Calls for animal control happen several times a month. They also have a phone menu. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/89 "2022-07-19T04:57:09Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Calling the police non-emergency line here gets you a phone menu. After the message to call 911 of it’s an emergency, you can choose 1 to 5 plus 0. I know this is not how it works but I can’t help thinking someone calls and hears: _“Welcome to the New York City 311 line. Your call is very important to us. Calls may be recorded. Please select an option from the following menu:”_ - Is the murderer in the house? Press 1 - Are you being stabbed? Press 2 - Is your neighbor’s dog shitting on your lawn? Press 3 - Did you shoot someone while playing with your gun? Press 4 … ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/90 "2022-07-19T12:52:51Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Calling the police non-emergency line here gets you a phone menu. After the message to call 911 of it’s an emergency, you can choose 1 to 5 plus 0. I know this because my work number is one digit different from the non-emergency line (and one digit different from animal control) and someone leaves voice mail for PD over the weekend a couple of times a year. > > Calls for animal control happen several times a month. They also have a phone menu. We get a message saying the call will be recorded, then a person picks up. And you reminded me, the non-emergency police number is also what to call if animal control doesn’t answer the phone. (The message you get when the animal control officer doesn’t answer tells you to call the police.) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/91 "2022-07-19T16:58:32Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > And you reminded me, the non-emergency police number is also what to call if animal control doesn’t answer the phone. (The message you get when the animal control officer doesn’t answer tells you to call the police.) Here, after hours, it rolls to PD without giving you the animal control menu first. IIRC. If it’s during office hours, after you make your menu choice it will bounce between three or four other animal control numbers. If absolutely no one answers, it will bounce to PD. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/92 "2022-07-20T03:21:15Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I know this because my work number is one digit different from the non-emergency line My old work phone # was one digit different than the a precinct (in the hood), my phone # had a 3 while the PD was an 8. While yes, they might look alike if someone with poor handwriting writes it down, they are not even adjacent on the num pad, which make it virtually impossible to make that a typo (dialo?). Like you, I’d occasionally get calls for them. One woman called & wanted to know when her son would be out after his arrest; I was polite & told her she had the wrong number _ **three** _ separate times. If you’re gonna be that dense & not understand, “You have a wrong number, this is not the police station” you deserve what you get. When she asked me for the fourth time, on the _same_ phone call, I replied, “Well, ma’am, that’s up to the arraignment judge but they usually don’t grant bail for murder suspects”…& then hung up. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > > [@Yllaria](#): > > > > Calling the police non-emergency line here gets you a phone menu. After the message to call 911 of it’s an emergency, you can choose 1 to 5 plus 0. > > I know this is not how it works but I can’t help thinking someone calls and hears: > > _“Welcome to the New York City 311 line. Your call is very important to us. Calls may be recorded. > Please select an option from the following menu:”_ > > - Is the murderer in the house? Press 1 > - Are you being stabbed? Press 2 > - Is your neighbor’s dog shitting on your lawn? Press 3 > - Did you shoot someone while playing with your gun? Press 4 > … Two weeks ago we’re on the parkway behind a very obviously _very_ impaired driver. She calls 911 & gets, “Your call is very important to us & will be handled in the order in which it was received, please stay on the line.” This is then repeated in Spanish before starting back into English before _finally_ being answered. The call gets dropped on transfer to the stateies. She calls back again & we get the Exact. Same. Thing. Luckily, there was a SP in the right place & the a-hole did get pulled over & arrested before he injured/killed someone. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/93 "2022-07-20T12:39:30Z")
Back when I was living in Bozeman, MT, one evening on my way home, I saw a lost dog on campus. He was wearing tags on his collar, and was friendly enough to let me read them. This was after cell phones, but before smart phones (or at least, before I had one), so I called Directory Assistance to get the number for Animal Control, called Animal Control, and got their voicemail… so not knowing what else to do, I left a message telling them about the dog and the number on his tags. The next day, I got a call back from them saying that Animal Control was only for wild animals, and that for a lost pet, I should have called the police. Of course, by that point, the dog was nowhere to be seen. I hope his humans managed to find him. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/94 "2022-07-20T13:21:52Z")
One of the difficulties is that the methods of contacting the authorities for non-emergency and semi emergency purposes are different not just state from state but town to town. I used to live in a town that had no police department and was covered by the state police. The border was on my street. The house is across the street is in a different town that had its own small police department. One night there was a car accident with the car off the road down and an embankment in front of my house. I called 911 and was routed through three different dispatching agencies before I could get ahold of someone who would respond. And that was for a clear-cut emergency. Trying to figure out who to call for some gray area incident would’ve been nearly impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/95 "2022-07-20T18:27:10Z")
Going back to the original question of if a car stopped on a highway is an emergency there is this video. The driver had already abandoned the vehicle before it was hit. > **[WATCH: Abandoned Pickup Catches Fire After Crash On I-35](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/minnesota/news/watch-abandoned-pickup-catches-fire-after-crash-on-i-35/#app)** > > Traffic camera video shows a semi truck slamming into an abandoned pickup Wednesday morning on Interstate 35 near Forest Lake. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/96 "2022-07-20T18:42:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I saw a lost dog on campus. He was wearing tags on his collar, and was friendly enough to let me read them. This was after cell phones, but before smart phones (or at least, before I had one), so I called Directory Assistance All my pet tags have included my phone number. So have the pet tags of stray animals I have approached. I guess that’s not really on topic, but I highly recommend you do this if you have pets who ever get outdoors. (my cell phone’s lock screen displays my email address, too.) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/97 "2022-07-20T18:44:01Z")
On topic: One of the lights in town is skipping the “left turn arrow” part of its cycle, and a long line has built up. I meant to call the non-emergency police number to mention it, but I forgot after getting home. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/98 "2022-07-20T19:00:14Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > All my pet tags have included my phone number. Having your phone number on your dog’s collar is great, but your dog needs to allow strangers to inspect the tag. Part of Canine Good Citizen training involves working with your dog to allow strangers to handle their collar/tags. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/99 "2022-07-20T19:02:05Z")
If I can’t catch the animal and grab its collar, I’m probably not going to be reporting it to anyone. 🤷 But yes, good if your dogs allow that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892/100 "2022-07-20T19:41:16Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I can report a blocked driveway (someone parked in the parking lane across my driveway) via 311 but if someone actually parked in my driveway on my property, it says to call 911 although in either case I cannot get into or out of my driveway. IANAL or a cop, but at least here in my state, Cars parked on the street that block your driveway is a non-criminal parking violation, whilst parking ON your own property can be trespassing, which is a minor but real crime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-the-police-for-non-police-matters/967892.md?page=6)