Oh, 1 other, the kind where you’re dying to know what happened after.
I called to report a dangerous and erratic driver who was also beating the hell out of someone or something in the passenger seat. Again with requests for all kinds of descriptives after I’d given them the make and color of car, last location and license plate #, as I was following him until I pulled off to call. No way I am getting close enough to see what he looks like, is wearing etc.
Three that I can remember - once when my father had a heart attack, and twice to report fires (one of those from my car - no, the fire wasn’t in the car; I saw it while driving and pulled over).
I think three times: once was after witnessing a traffic accident; once was when some guys were abandoning a stolen car in front of our house, first breaking out the windows; and the last was when, as meals-on-wheels deliverers, we entered a woman’s apartment and found her on the floor, where she had been lying for about five hours. She wasn’t hurt, but there was no way we could have known that and couldn’t have gotten her up even if we had.
I voted never, but I might have been switched to 911 when someone had parked their car in my driveway (in, not in front of). I called the local town guards (they are not police), but may have been switched to 911. At any rate, the cops came, looked up the plate number and discovered it was a neighbor across the street who, for some reason, believed I was out of town. He was extremely apologetic. With that possible exception, never. Had I had a cell phone when I broke my ankle in 2005 I would have called them. As it was I didn’t know it was broken and there was a hospital a block away, so I hobbled over there, where I got an x-ray.
Neighbor was dying. Got disconnected twice. They couldn’t find the location at the junction of two major highways.
Is it worth the three dollars a month I have to pay for it? Hell No!
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Car stopped in middle of four- lane freeway with no lights on at 1am.
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Car accident that happened in front of me on a highway.
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Reported gunfire in front of my house - some guys tried to rob my neighbor in his driveway. My neighbor was carrying a gun and ran down the street firing at them. No injuries, but scary.
Almost called last week on a guy parked in far reaches of shopping mall sitting motionless in his car with the engine on. I returned an hour later and his head was lolled all the way back and his mouth open, car still on (he looked like a cartoon of being dead, sans “Xs” for eyes). Oh god, this guy has died of carbon monoxide poisoning! I honked a few times, no response. Shit! I had literally punched in 9-1- when the guy bolted upright. Not dead, yay.
More than 10 times in my life; mostly for police. Where to start:
Over 12 or so years:
3 Times for Family members (Medical)
4-5 (probably more) times for domestic violence problems by some trashy neighbors
Once for house being robbed (a big Hinckley water jug filled with money)
Once for house being broken into but not robbed
Once for being jumped and sliced/stabbed on my shoulder
Twice for my brother being jumped and robbed and having his jaw broken, assaulted with “The Club” (The steering wheel lock).
Twice for Garage being broken into (stole a lawnmower and a gas powered RC car/Nitro car)
3 times for a big time stalker ex-girlfriend (hadn’t been together in years) leaving notes and trying to come in my house, calling and making threats, circling the block.
A few times for audible gunshots
Once for a gangbanger beating up his girlfriend in front (a story I mentioned in another thread somewhere)
2 times for cars being broken into (police can’t and won’t do anything about it, apparently)
Once for seeing someone [who didn’t live there] crawling into a neighbors house window
Not so significant ones were for a couple drunk drivers (like swerving drunk), a hit and run and a motorcycle vs car accident where the rider was flopped in the air and lay helmetless and bloody in the street (stupid ass driving got out just to take pictures of her car, didn’t go near him once)
Actually quite pleased with the police response to a few of them, couldn’t do much about the cars being broken into or the garages for some reason. Suggested reinforcing the garage door, camera’s and a form of “home protection”. They handled all of the rest perfectly, well, the best they could anyhow.
Been two years since living in my new neighborhood, not one issue, not even an audible siren except for the firehouse across the way, thankfully. Not to mention it’s close to downtown. After all of that shit I should have bought a firearm, but did not…not sure why, not concerned about it now though. About all I have to deal with now is dogs barking at night in the Dog Daycare by me, that I can live with, easily 
One time it was for a neighbor who had his wife on the ground with him sitting astride her as he beat her face to a bloody pulp. That’s when I learned that 911 did not work in my area for police, only for fire and ambulance. I had to find paper and write down a phone number for police.
And a few other times for automobile accidents, burglaries, car theft, and the time kids were playing in the woods near my house with three different machine guns.
Four times that I can remember. Twice for car accidents I witnessed, fortunately neither fatal but one was really bad. Car ran the red light and T-boned the car in front of me. If I had left the house a few minutes earlier it might have been me. Once because a neighbor at my previous apartment was beating up on his girlfriend, I could hear them through the wall our apartments shared. And finally once when I was a teenager when the guy who lived across the street came running over yelling “Call 911! My garage is on fire!” So I called 911 for him and he hung out at our house until the fire department finished up. He had a detached garage so no damage to his house fortunately.
At 16, we lived across the street from a park. One night, at a house on the other side of the park, we heard a domestic disturbance get ugly. A big guy was cussing at his little wife/girlfriend, then he started shoving or throwing her around, right on their front lawn. We called 911, but I wanted to do more. I was a scrawny 15 year old, no fighting skills, but I was ashamed for not running across the park to help her. The cops were there quickly, and hauled him to jail.
I thought it was 1 -3 when I voted, but now I am remembering others.
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High school, my good friend who lived behind us came running out of his house, and smoke was pouring out of the windows. It turned out he’d forgotten about a frozen pizza in the oven.
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Freshman year of college, a friend from home told me she was depressed and had just downed a bottle of her mom’s heart medicine. Technically not a 911 call; apparently you can’t dial 911 for another area code (I was at school 750 miles from home), but I called the police nonemergency number and explained, and they sent over a squad car. Her parents woke up when the cops banged on the door and figured out what had happened. She ended up in inpatient psych, but she survived.
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A few years ago, Christmas Day, driving to see Tom Scud’s extended family, an SUV lurched all over the road and flipped over in front of us. Apparently she lived, because we got a call later from the state police asking for our account of what had happened (apparently she survived and said someone had cut her off, but there was nobody even close to her - probably texting and driving).
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Several instances of extremely loud music at 2 a.m. down the block (apparently that’s what you need to do in Chicago to get a squad car to come out).
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A drunk guy 20+ years ago: at least I think he was drunk, and he definitely couldn’t stand up and needed help staying out of the street.
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Several instances of calling the cops on my asshole former upstairs neighbor who kept blocking the back staircase with his giant SUV.
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A car that had been stripped down to the frame (I couldn’t even tell what kind of car it was when the operator asked!) and abandoned across the street from our house.
There are probably others that I am forgetting.
I voted 3-10 because I figured 3 but recalled another shortly after,
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Home invasion - went to dial, but roommate had beaten me to it, she couldn’t remember our address so I filled in the blanks. They caught the guy 20 minutes later. Not a fun night.
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My Grandmother’s stroke. She was with us another 6 years after I made that call (Remember FAST - Facial Droop, Arm Weakness, Speech Difficulties, Time to call 911)
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Motorcyclist missed the curve and took a header off her bike. I was first to arrive. That’s when I learned that 911 services are non-local and won’t dispatch to local landmarks or intersections but require a street address or GPS co-ordinates. Make sure your house numbers are visible from the street. She was ambulatory but still got hauled off to the hospital by ambulance. The cop and I hid her mostly intact bike in the brush for her family to retrieve later. The officer correctly interpreted my “She was driving like a local” comment as intended: She was speeding when she passed me up the road, I was speeding too and had no desire to appear in court to be more clear. She was cited for driving without due care.
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An older lady slipped an fell on the pathway in front of me an dislocated her shoulder. I could see the fire department from where I was standing, still took ten minutes for EMS to get there.
There were a couple of other times when I should have called and would now, but they turned out alright in the end.
-DF
You called 911 because someone’s music was loud?
I’ve dialed it twice, both for its legitimate purpose; once when I was the only witness to a bad single car accident, and once when my grandmother was at risk of dying.
One to three. Once when I fell and couldn’t get up. ER diagnosis was “situational vertigo.” Second time was another fall; ER diagnosis was “bleeding on brain;” can’t recall exact medical name—was admitted to intensive care for two days. Third time was a guy in the street about fifty yards from my house; he was screaming threats and firing a hand gun. Never did know at whom the threats were directed; gun fire was at random targets.
In some communities, 911 is the only number that there is for a police response, especially after-hours. Even if there’s a regular number to call, the phone tree might just call 911 for you if you press the number to indicate that you need the police to respond to something.
In this case, it was definitely legitimate. Here’s a little more to the story.
I was in college and living in a 2nd floor apartment that was not air-conditioned. In the summer, I slept with my windows open, and one hot, sticky night, I was awakened at about 3am by the dulcet tones of Motley Crue’s “Girls, Girls, Girls”. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from, except for the general direction, so I called. The operator asked me, “Are you in the 800 block of XYZ Avenue?” I replied, “No, I’m in the 900 block” and wondered who could possibly have a stereo THAT loud.
I went back to bed, and the music stopped a few minutes later.
My roommate and I worked with a guy who lived in the 800 block, and I asked him if that came from his house. He groaned and replied, “No, it was our neighbors.”
A few times in the last couple of years for medical emergencies with my dad. A couple of times to report potential crimes that turned out to be nothing.
I would’ve called them even if that song was playing at a whisper. Trailer Park ‘metal’ at all.
My Mom preheated the oven while she went to the grocery store. She left a greasy pan in there which burst into flame. I panicked* and could not remember the phone # for the fire department (this was pre-911),
But then I remembered we had the # on a sticker on the basement phone** So I called and left the house.
The fire may have been out by the time the fire department came, but there was a lot of smoke so they brought out their gas powered fans to clear the smoke.
(Imagine my mom’s reaction upon coming back from the grocery store with the fire truck in the driveway)
Brian
- I was not in High School yet – not sure how old
** the phones were hardwired
The number in New Zealand is 111. I don’t recall ever calling it myself.
The number in Australia is 000. I have called it twice. Once while witnessing a violent incident, and once when I accidentally choked on some food and thought I might need the EMT, but actually recovered while on the line so cancelled the call-out.