I am a 911 Dispatcher, ask me anything.

[Anonymous]

I have never been asked to go to court but a coworker has.

[Anonymous]

Someone called this am on the non emergency line because there was a raccoon in his trash can...I asked him if he could just turn it over and let the raccoon out and he wouldnt in case it was rabid. Its seriously hard not to be condesending to some people, we have to try though, its part of the job.

[Anonymous]

Do paranoid (mentally ill) people call 911 to report phantom/made up crimes..

[Anonymous]

Has anyone called asking if it is okay to use a weapon in self-defense while they are hiding in a home invasion or similar situation? What are you trained to do if that happens? There was a case where a single mom asked the dispatcher if she could shoot two intruders who were in the middle of kicking in her trailer door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dude. Say hi to BM for me.

Dude, say hi to your own bowel movement! That's gross.

[Anonymous]

ref the last post, yes they do. I am at the point know where I recognize some of the voices or the rants. We usually try and let the person say what they need to say unless we are really busy.

[Anonymous]

I am not a dude and have no idea who BM is.
We are not allowed to give legal advise. We can get into serios trouble for that.
If someone wants to sue a weapon we advise against it but tell them what they do is their decision.
We can not make decisions for people.

[Anonymous]

excuse typos

[Anonymous]

I think I read someplace once that there is a small percentage of people who make the majority of calls. (I could be wrong about that, though). But they are known as repeat callers - people who fall constantly, or who use 911 as their primary means of medical care, or mentally ill people who call just because it's someone to talk to, or neighborhood busybodies who report suspicious activities, or people who can't abide noise and bitch about neighbors or what have you.

Is that accurate? You said you recognize some people who call - what are their calls usually about?

[Anonymous]

Yes it is true, I have no idea of the perecentage though, I wouldnt say its the majority.
A lot of what I call petty calls are the same people, cars parked 5 mins past the meter has expired, or parked in front of a hydrant, things like that. people get annoyed because its on their street.
We have a person who is mentally challenged who calls about every two weeks to say he is being assaulted in his own home. He is an adult and we have to respond each time but theres nothing wrong with him.
People in big houses, usually in the newer developments seem to be suspicious of people walking, especially black or hispanic people. They say they "dont belong" in the neighborhood. Its frustrating but we still have to send an Officer.

[Anonymous]

This is so interesting - thanks, OP, for posting and replying!

My question for you: How does it all work? When someone calls in and states their emergency, do you immediately start typing the problem which gets sent immediately to police/fire/rescue? How do you relay the message and how fast is the message relayed?

Also, do you feel like police/fire/rescue usually respond immediately, or is it sometimes hard to get a hold of them and get them going?

[Anonymous]

did you see that movie with halle berry from last year? was it realistic?

[Anonymous]

15:41 Generally speaking if you are answering the phones you are not dispatching at the same time.
Each call is given a priority based on the nature, in the computer. For example a burglary is a 1, high priority, lights and sirens response. So if someone calls and says they were on vacation and they came home and the house has been ranacked, we still respond but we change the priority in the computer so it gets sent lower priority.
Once the calltaker enters the call the dispatcher sees it on their screen and can dispatch the Officers.

On a high priority call you are sending more than one, so even if one doesnt respond to the radio immediately there are still Officers enrt.
If someone doesnt answer after being called twice we have a siren type noise that goes on the radio. That alerts everyone to listen up.

[Anonymous]

I saw the Halle Berry movie. I remeber some was realistic and some wasnt. The ending definitely wasnt.

[Anonymous]

Op just wanted to thank you for what you do and on behalf of the many people who you have helped in the most awful of situations.