They complain that many non-emergency calls clog 911 lines. But that’s just because it’s often hard to figure out who to call or where to get their number.
The idea is simple, call 922 and a non-emergency site picks up your coordinates and connects you. Since it’s not an emergency, they can be in a call center in Iowa. Doesn’t have to be free, can be a fee like 411.
Or, I suppose, you could beef up 411 with GPS and more astute operators, so you don’t end up connected to some band named Police.
Isn’t that what 311 is for?
I dialed 311 and got dead air and a message to hang up and try again.
When was the last time you hung up a phone, anyway? I guess that means those 2-part “candlestick phones” from the roaring 20’s that had a little hook for the ear piece.
Or dialed? 
311 is a non-emergency police, fire and city service number in a lot of cities, such as Chicago.
Wouldn’t matter. People would still call 911 for crap that’s only an emergency to THEM (Help, my toilet’s overflowing!) and they would still call the non-emergency lines for stuff that any rational person would qualify as a major crisis (I don’t know if this is really an emergency, but my husband’s on the floor and he’s not breathing…can you tell the ambulance not to use sirens, I don’t want to bother the neighbors.)
Here, the only way to contact the police is to dial 911. They don’t publish any other numbers. The phone book lists 911 as the number for anything related to the sheriff’s office.
I’ve used 911 to report suspicious persons in the neighborhood (not exactly an emergency) and was encouraged to do so again if it happened again.
Someone dumped a bicycle in the canal behind the house, and I suspect it’s stolen, but I’m reluctant to dial 911 to inform the police about a $100 bike.
I have to wonder, why is it 911 dispatchers can’t just transfer an obviously non-emergency phone call over to a “311 line”? I mean, if it does become an emergency, why can’t they then re-transfer or conference call it with a 911-type dispatcher?
Hypothetical Theatre, Act I:
Operator: “911, what is your emergency?”
Caller: “Halp! Timmy fell into a well and is stuck! I can’t see him, and he’s not making any noise!!”
Operator: Hrm, kid’s in a well. Is probably a life-threatening situation–could be drowning. “Okay, what is your location? I’m sending the police and an ambulance. . .”
Hypothetical Theatre, Act II:
Operator: “911, what is your emergency?”
Caller: “Halp! I’m at the McDonalds, and they won’t give me my chicken McNuggets! I specifically ordered chicken McNuggets, and they said they’re out!! It’s an emergency!”
Operator: Okay, not exactly a life, limb, or eyesight emergency. “Alright, Sir, I’m transferring you to our ‘Crisis Intervention*’ line. . .” ::click::
Finally, Act III:
Operator: “911, what is your emergency?”
Caller: “Halp! I’m at the McDonalds, and a I specifically ordered chicken McNuggets, and now they won’t give them to me!”
Operator: Okay, not exactly a life, limb, or eyesight emergency. “Alright, Sir, I’m transferring you to our ‘Crisis Intervention*’ line. . .” “Sir, I have Officer Joe on the Crisis Intervention line, and he will be helping you out. . .” :click:
Joe on the CI Line: “Sir, can you tell me what’s going on?”
Caller: “Yeah, I specifically ordered chicken McNuggets and now they won’t give them to me. . .”
Joe: “Sir, did you try to order something else? Did they give you your money back?”
Caller: “I don’t want anything else! They gave me my money back, but if they don’t give me my McNuggets, I’m gonna blow all these mther fckers away!”
Joe: Well, now we’ve got threats from a potentially armed person. I should repatch in with a 911 dispatcher; 'Mike, I’ve got a possible 92-echo on the recent call in from (701) 555-1212, send a squad car to the McDonalds. I’m adding you in on a conference call. . ."
Joe + Operator: “Sir, are you still at the McDonalds? Are you armed?”
Caller: “Yeah, I’m gonna blow them all away!”
Operator: “Sir, please put the gun down . . .”
Cue curtain.
. . . you get the idea. If I can teleconference with Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, and a Berlin all at the same time, why can’t I conference call a 911 call between an emergency dispatcher and a non-emergency one (manpower and funding issues notwithstanding)?
As much as I hate to invoke a telemarketing thing, why couldn’t we have a tiered system where calls can be routed to the most appropriate dispatcher? I know everyone is going to think they have an emergency, but when facts are described over the phone (and they are often distorted), why don’t we have one or two people to manage the response? Wouldn’t it make sense to pay someone $50k a year (or so) to better manage responses, instead of costing taxpayers $100k+ a year to roll out on false alarms?
- It doesn’t have to be called a “Crisis Intervention” line. Call it whatever you want to suggest to the population that it is an ‘emergency’ line, but it doesn’t primarily deal with life, limb, or eyesight emergencies.
Tripler
Just sayin. We have the technology. . .
In Edmontonit’s just a generic city information line. I’m amused that you can even e-mail 311! (311 @ edmonton . ca)
(bolding mine)
Aye, there’s the rub. Unlike a shiny new fire truck or police car, 911 infrastructure is invisible, and not something The Powers That Be can show off in town parades right behind Zippy the Civic Squirrel, so they’re reluctant to spend money on it. Plus, there’s been police and fire fighters for hundreds of years; dispatching is a relatively new field, and outside of the biggest cities most dispatch centers are a cobbled-together hash of trunk lines and “temporary” patches. At my old job our entire phone system was routed through the switchboard of the state mental hospital up the road. There’s still a public perception that we are secretaries who do nothing but answer the phone, so why should we receive any special training, adequate equipment, or respect?
There’s technical difficulties as well - IANA telecommunications engineer, but as I understand it 911 trunks and regular phone trunks are seperate animals that don’t play well together. At my current job I can transfer 911 calls to a pre-programmed set of specific numbers - mostly surrounding counties - and that’s it. It was the same at my previous job. I don’t know what the solution is; emergency dispatch is a fast-growing field, and they’re doing all kinds of cool stuff with VOIP and satellites and wireless, but without funds and recognition that we do a hell of a lot more than just answer phones most places are just going to continue to stagnate about 15 technological years behind the rest of the world.