Here there are three things people need to keep in mind when they call 911.
First, I cannot tell you over the last 33 years of covering crime how many times I've had a victim say, as soon as the tragedy was over, the crime was over, the attack, the a*****t, was over, they called a loved one not 911.
I can't tell you how many times. I had a woman and there was a guy trying to get into her apartment, she tapped on the glass door with her gun and he went away, good for her. And the first thing she did was call her boyfriend. People call their mom and dad, they call their loved ones first, and I get that need to talk to a familiar voice, but really what you need to do is call 911 first and then call your loved ones, so you can get police on the way, ambulance on the way, whatever it is needed, and maybe that guy who tapped on her window could have gotten caught before he actually got into some woman's apartment.
The second thing to remember is the first person who answers the phone at 911, is not the person you go, 'here's what happened..' Don't tell your story, the first person who answers at 911 only wants to know one thing, police, fire, or EMS. So take a breath, take all that stress and adrenaline, and say I need police, or fire, or whatever it is, and then the next person that comes on the phone, that's who you tell your story what happened, where you are, and all those things.
The third thing to keep in mind is that people get very frustrated because 911 is gonna ask you a million questions, and I have people who just go, 'give me the cops' and hang up. That is not the right thing to do. They do ask you a million questions but it's because they need as much information to protect you, to protect the officers. They're gonna ask you all kinds of questions and maybe they forget to say, 'by the way, help is on the way,' but I promise you, help is on the way, so just take a deep breath again, answer the questions as best you can because there is a reason they're asking you for that.
I even have a person who called 911 about a burglar in their house, the cop pulled up, the burglar comes out but acts like the homeowner and says, 'everything's fine,' and the officer left. So they might even ask you what are you wearing, do you have a weapon, where are you in the house. They're gonna try to get as much information as they can to make sure they get the right person in custody and to make sure that everybody is safe.
First, I cannot tell you over the last 33 years of covering crime how many times I've had a victim say, as soon as the tragedy was over, the crime was over, the attack, the a*****t, was over, they called a loved one not 911.
I can't tell you how many times. I had a woman and there was a guy trying to get into her apartment, she tapped on the glass door with her gun and he went away, good for her. And the first thing she did was call her boyfriend. People call their mom and dad, they call their loved ones first, and I get that need to talk to a familiar voice, but really what you need to do is call 911 first and then call your loved ones, so you can get police on the way, ambulance on the way, whatever it is needed, and maybe that guy who tapped on her window could have gotten caught before he actually got into some woman's apartment.
The second thing to remember is the first person who answers the phone at 911, is not the person you go, 'here's what happened..' Don't tell your story, the first person who answers at 911 only wants to know one thing, police, fire, or EMS. So take a breath, take all that stress and adrenaline, and say I need police, or fire, or whatever it is, and then the next person that comes on the phone, that's who you tell your story what happened, where you are, and all those things.
The third thing to keep in mind is that people get very frustrated because 911 is gonna ask you a million questions, and I have people who just go, 'give me the cops' and hang up. That is not the right thing to do. They do ask you a million questions but it's because they need as much information to protect you, to protect the officers. They're gonna ask you all kinds of questions and maybe they forget to say, 'by the way, help is on the way,' but I promise you, help is on the way, so just take a deep breath again, answer the questions as best you can because there is a reason they're asking you for that.
I even have a person who called 911 about a burglar in their house, the cop pulled up, the burglar comes out but acts like the homeowner and says, 'everything's fine,' and the officer left. So they might even ask you what are you wearing, do you have a weapon, where are you in the house. They're gonna try to get as much information as they can to make sure they get the right person in custody and to make sure that everybody is safe.