Everywhere, USA | Being a good witness is not only a great thing for Police to help catch the bad guy[s] but can also help solve their case.  This is a basic example what is needed when calling 9-1-1 and how your information can help Dispatchers send the correct Police Agency and Officers to respond within a timely amount of time.  Without the necessary information may waste time and enabling the bad guy[s] get away.

Example:

You are Tracy Peters at 320 California Way S, Seattle and you are the next door neighbor to Sally and Ryan Thomas at 323 California Way S, in Seattle.  As you are opening the drapes to your home, you see several young male teens knocking on doors that seem to be out-of-place in your community.  You notice they are wandering over to your neighbor’s house knowing they are both gone during the day.

Watching the teenagers disappear around the side of your two houses, you hear nothing.  You hear some doors slamming next door and you know these guys are next door and shouldn’t be.  You walk to the rear of your home and you can see them going in and out of Sally and Ryan’s house knowing they are robbing them.

What you do next will either help or hinder the Police response.  What will you do?

CALL 9-1-1.

Call the Police so they can respond to Sally and Ryan’s house immediately and stop the young teenagers from continuing with their crime and arrest them for burglary.  Your first initiation of helping your neighbors is calling the Police so they can catch them in the act.  The faster you notice something out of the ordinary, the better.  Police around the Country have said it’s better to call them for something turning into nothing, than nothing turning into something all the while the crime is being committed.

STATE IF POLICE OR FIRE NEEDED.

Cell phone callers generally in the Bellevue area will be answered by 9-1-1 Call takers with the Washington State Patrol and will ask what area are you in and if you need Police or Fire.  When transferred, your call then hits the Eastside Communications Center known as NORCOM which dispatches for both Police and Fire for multiple Cities on the eastside.

It is is important to know your location and the location as to where assistance to be sent so that the problem resources can be dispatched and saving critical amount of time, especially when dealing with a medical emergency.

STAY CALM.

Stay calm as best as you can and answer the Dispatcher’s questions as best as you can.  We all know when an emergency arises, our adrenaline can get the best of us but to stay calm, cool and collected will help the Dispatcher to glean information from you without delay in sending help.

LOCATION IS EVERYTHING.

Location is everything because the Dispatcher cannot send help unless he/she knows exactly where the crime is being committed. Some Communications Center dispatch for multiple Cities and it is important to know where the City or County and address is located so the correct assistance is being sent without delay.  Even with the intersections and street names can be of benefit.

SERIES OF QUESTIONS.

Dispatchers are trained to ask a series of questions to ask the caller to get as much information for their responding units as possible.  When on the phone with the Dispatcher remember they are highly skilled Emergency Services Communication Specialists and this is what they do day out and day in.  Answering their questions and staying calm will help the Dispatcher get the necessary assistance to your location as quickly as possible.

What are the questions they may ask you, the Caller?

What Happened?

In this case, you are reporting three male teenagers are breaking into your neighbor’s home.

Weapons?

You didn’t see any.

When Did it Occur?

You report that the teenagers are still there.

Where Did it Occur?

It is happening now at 323 California Way S.  You live in the Michaelson Housing Community.  Give them as much information as you can about the location including landmarks, street intersections, etc.

Suspect Description.

Suspect Descriptions is so vital to a Police Officer’s investigation.  So many times we have heard that when someone’s car was being broken into and the witness reported seeing a certain person breaking in, then left the scene – the Officer was unable to locate either the witness or the suspect.  This leads to the case being unsolved.

Be a Hero and mentally as best as you can record what the teenagers look like in this scenario.   How many were there? What is their race? What did they look like? What were they wearing?  The Dispatcher will ask you their hair color, clothing description, gender amongst additional questions.

Vehicle Description.

Did the three teenagers arrive in a vehicle and if so, what did it look like? If not, the Dispatcher may bypass this question or ask if they were dropped off or if any other vehicles driving around in the area.  Descriptions may include the Make/Model/Year of the Vehicle, color, plate number or any other markings, unusual details about the vehicle.

In this case, the teenagers just arrived on foot from the nearby High School campus across from the involved neighborhood community.

Direction of Travel.

For this scenario, the teens are still committing the crime and haven’t left the scene yet.  You would tell the Dispatcher they are in between yours and the neighbor’s home.  This gives the Dispatcher a heads up that they haven’t left the scene yet.

Reporting Party.

You, the Caller is the Reporting party.  The Dispatcher will ask you for your name, location and phone number best to reach you in case the Officer needs to contact you.  Most of the time, if they are working a case such as this, they will definitely may have some additional questions for you.

Sometimes, callers can be anonymous providing tips and other information to the Detective without worry of becoming involved.  However, many Officers like to ask witnesses to provide more detailed info to help add another layer of intel to their cases they are working for an arrest and closing their case.

MORALE OF THE STORY.

Reporting a crime in progress or calling for help is commendable and heroic on many levels. As in this example, the neighbor called 9-1-1 immediately after noticing potential crime activity in her community.  Being alert and in concern for your neighbors, she felt obligated to call Police to report the burglary in progress.

Being a great witness is all about knowing where you are located, the address where the assistance needs to respond to, who may be involved, suspect descriptions and providing details of what assistance is needed.  In this scenario, the caller did perfectly what they needed to working with the Dispatcher to provide and answer all of her/his questions.

WHEN TO CALL 9-1-1.

Here are some prime examples when to call 9-1-1.

Fire Emergencies:  Auto Accident.  Fire.   Medical Emergency such as choking, shortness of breath, Heart Attack, an life-threatening emergency, an allergic reaction or anything else that would constitute to going to the ER.

Police Response:  Stolen vehicle.  Auto Accident.  Missing or Kidnapped person or child.  assault of Any Kind. Robbery.  Burglary.  Drug Activity.

Dialing by Accident: If you call 9-1-1 in error, don’t hang up.  Stay on the line and let the Dispatcher know you called in error and there is no emergency.

 

Thank you for reading our blog post:  “Be A 9-1-1 Hero”.

[c] 2015 The NW Fire Blog