Calling the Police via 911 Versus a Non-Emergency Number: Variation Among Telephone Reporting Methods and their Implications for Public Safety

Much police activity occurs at the request of the public. Most requests from the public are received by the police via telephone. I assessed and compared the characteristics of ~255,000 police calls for service generated via calls to 911 and non-emergency numbers. Dispatched calls for service generated via 911 calls were, on average, higher priority and dispatched faster and to more officers who arrived quicker and spent longer on-scene than dispatched calls for service generated via non-emergency calls. Nonetheless, many emergent events were reported via non-emergency numbers. I highlight the implications of telephone reporting methods for public safety, interrogate the concept of an “emergency” as it applies to policing, and describe the importance of non-emergency call handling for policing operations.