SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Despite 911 being an emergency line and the non-emergency line being for non-emergencies, there’s still confusion as to when it is more appropriate to call one as opposed to the other.
“We experience that every day,” said Ryan Sontag, Communications Dispatcher with Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, regarding incoming calls to the dispatch center.
“A lot of 911 calls are for situations that the system is not designed or intended to be used for,” he added.
The non-emergency line for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office is 916-874-5115.
When the power goes out
“We can’t get the power on any faster," Sontag said. "Telling us about power outages just because the power is out isn’t going to do anybody any good.”
When the power goes out, it is best to call the power company and not the non-emergency line if the situation is not something public safety workers can address.
Dispatchers will be doing a lot of triaging during storms and, when situations like this occur, they usually end up referring callers to utility or power companies. Issues like road conditions and potholes will likely be passed on to public works.
High call frequency means longer wait times for callers, but, if you call the right number, you can reduce that time and only make a single call.
The City of Sacramento and Sacramento County both have online reporting available for their services that can address matters like potholes and flooding. Shy of picking up the phone to use an app, you might not even have to make a call when you report.
What qualifies as an emergency?
Every day, storm or no storm, the dispatch center gets calls on their emergency line that would have been better categorized as non-emergency.
Often times, these are noise complaints.
If you are unsure of whether something qualifies as a life or death emergency, Sontag says that it is generally OK to use the emergency line, but knowingly misusing the system could result in a fine.
The emergency line is preferred to be left to those with life or death emergencies that a “reasonable person” thinks is an immediate threat or could be an immediate threat to someone’s life or safety.
Sontag said that, even though sparking power lines that no one is near might not be a life-threatening emergency in that moment, it could easily become one if someone happens upon that scene.
In contrast, a large tree that fell in a yard, is away from any structures, and isn’t threatening anyone would likely be a situation for the non-emergency line.
When storm-related incidents are happening all over town, sometimes calling the non-emergency number may take some time.
“That doesn’t mean you should hang up and call 911 to get through faster, because, if you don’t have an emergency, we likely will not take that information on 911,” Sontag said. “We will refer you back to non-emergency where you’ll just go to the back of the queue basically.”
Texting 911
In October 2018, Sacramento County rolled out a new program that allowed residents to text 911 during an emergency. The project was considered the first of its kind in Northern California.
These text messages are processed with the highest priority. People in the system get audible alerts to the messages and start responding immediately to the message.
Sacramento County doesn’t appear to have any issues with the system.
“As far as we can tell, everything is going well with our setup,” Sontag said.
If the text gets routed, it’s treated the same as a voice call. Afterward, workers narrow down a location and the nature of the message before sending out the proper resources.
They can also transfer the text to other agencies like local law enforcement or the fire department. Even though the system is up and running, Sontag still recommend a voice call if there’s an emergency you need to report.
“We always prefer a voice call. It goes a lot faster. It goes a lot smoother. Texting should be reserved for those times when you can’t talk…,” Sontag said.
Again, the non-emergency line for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s office is 916-874-5115.
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