9-1-1. That’s nine-one-one, not nine-eleven. We all know that, since there is no eleven on the telephone. (and children will not look for it.) But are we aware of the kinds of calls that should be called in on 9-1-1? Any crime in progress; one the caller sees happening, or one that has just occurred. This includes shootings, stabbings, traffic accidents, thefts, robberies, car thefts, prowlers, burglaries in progress and sounds of gunshots. These are just some examples. The key is that the crime must be occurring, just have occurred or be of a life threatening nature. (Of course, fire and medical emergencies are transferred immediately.)

When a 9-1-1 call is received, and no voice contact is made, it is presumed to be an emergency, and an officer will be dispatched to investigate. When you call 9-1-1 from any wired phone, your location and telephone number is automatically displayed to the dispatcher on the telephone company’s display (the telephone company inputs this as soon as it gives out a new telephone number.) If you are calling from your car phone or a cellular phone, the call is routed to CHP and then to law enforcement or medical. The hearing impaired are encouraged to use 9-1-1 so the address and telephone information can be displayed and recorded before transferring to the TDD system (Telephone Device for the Deaf.)

When you call 9-1-1 and are told to call another number, it is not because your call is not important, but because it is of a non-emergency nature. It is also because you are tying up an emergency line unnecessarily. Even if the dispatcher transfers you to the other line, it is still tying up the emergency line, and 9-1-1 callers can’t get through.

Just what is the priority order of our 9-1-1 calls? The calls are pre-programmed into the computer with pre-set priorities according to need instead of the order received. These are the guidelines which can be overridden by the dispatcher if the situation warrants a change. Priority E (Emergency) and Priority One: 1183 no-detail traffic accident, 11-8 person down (unknown reason), crimes in progress, lost children, disturbance calls involving weapons or physical violence; Priority Two: disturbance calls with no weapons involved; Priority Three: cold crime reports, loud party/noise complaints; Priority Four: found property, parking complaints.

Supervisor Janice O'Dell mentioned that they are now upgrading their system to provide more efficient services and to recruit qualified people . There is now a fulltime Recruiter employed (a dispatcher himself) to visit military bases, community colleges and job fairs to recruit capable people as dispatchers; ads in newspapers are also being used.

There are 32 phones in the Communications Division; 18 trunk lines for 9-1-1 calls and 22 for administrative or non-emergency. In year 2000, it received 429,000 9-1-1 calls. These calls were answered in an average of 5 seconds - a truly fast response, but needed, if a high level of service is to be maintained. And there were also an incredible 1,050,000 non-emergency calls received. To decide the difference between emergency and non-emergency takes split second timing and considerable training. We owe our lives to these dedicated people.