You and your family are sharing a quiet night at home watching television and listening to Simon Cowell tell some American Idol hopeful they were, “simply dreadful…sorry.”   From somewhere outside your home, someone suddenly screams, “Help!  Call the police!”

You and your spouse exchange worried glances as your children leap up and run toward the window.  You yell at your kids to come back and sit down.   You go to the window and peer out from behind the plaid curtains. 

 
You see several adult males milling about in the street and yelling obscenities at each other.  One of them has a metal baseball bat and the man holding the bat seems the most agitated of all the men in the street.  Another man is sitting on the curb holding his head.  You can see this man has blood running down his face and dripping onto his white T-shirt. 

You tell your wife what you see and she says, “You’d better call the police.”  So you dial 9-1-1. 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CALL 9-1-1?

Your call will be received by a dispatcher/operator who is trained to screen calls quickly and efficiently.  The dispatcher has to get information quickly in order to get police unit en route to the location.

Tell the 9-1-1 operator what you need, ambulance, fire truck, or police.  Be calm.  When you are upset, it’s hard for the dispatcher to understand what you’re saying or to get vital information quickly.  Stay on the phone.  Do not hang up.

The operator will be asking you questions.  Be prepared to give your name and address.  If your address is different from the location of the crime, be sure to let the operator know that.  The dispatcher will be asking you questions about what you’ve seen, what you’re currently seeing, and descriptions of people and vehicles involved. 

    Scenario:
    Dispatcher:  “Operator 911.  What are you reporting?”
    Citizen: “There’s four guys outside my house creating a disturbance.”
    Dispatcher:  “What are they doing?”  (WHAT)
    Citizen: “They’re yelling at each other and one of them has a bat.  He may have hit one of the guys, because one of them is bleeding from the head.”  (HOW)
    Dispatcher:  “I’ll send an ambulance.”
    Dispatcher:  “Is the problem happening right now?  If not, how long ago?”  (WHEN)
    Citizen:  “They’re standing out their yelling right now.”  
    Dispatcher: “Where is this problem happening?”  (WHERE) 
    Citizen: “Right outside my house at 4321 Maple Lane.  
    Dispatcher:  “Okay, I’ve got the police and an ambulance en route.”
    Dispatcher:  “What does the guy with bat look like?”  (WHO)  Male or female, descent, hair color, eye color, height, weight, age, clothing, unusual features (tattoo’s, scars, physical defect etc)
    Citizen: Gives description of people involved. “Wait! Some of them are running away!”
    Dispatcher:  “Is there a vehicle involved?”  Vehicle: (if involved) – Year, Make, Model, 2-door or 4-door, Color, License Plate Number, Unusual features (Traffic collision damage, tinted windows, wing on the rear, chrome rims etc)
     Citizen:  “No, I don’t see anyone getting into a car.”
     Dispatcher:  “Which way did the suspects go?”
     Citizen: “They went southbound toward Main Street.  They’re on foot – not in a car.”

    Obviously, you may not be able to answer all of these questions.  Just do the best you can.  Sometimes it may seem the questions are unnecessary, or may not make sense to you, but there are good reasons why they are asked.  You can help by providing brief accurate answers. 

    Patience will help us to process your call and get help to you as quickly as possible.  After all, you have to get back to watching the singing contest and Simon’s critiques.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 2:34 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.