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Police Communications- the 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Point

When you call the police, we will always ask the following:

• WHERE are you?
• WHAT is going on?
• WHO is involved?
• WHEN did this happen?
• IS ANYONE INJURED, OR DOES ANYONE NEED EMERGENCY MEDICAL ATTENTION

We will then ask for such details as:

• Are there vehicles involved?
• Which direction did the person or vehicle leave?

If there was a vehicle involved, try to describe it to us in a systematic manner.  Getting a vehicle description as soon as possible allows responding officers to spot the vehicle if it leaves the area.  The most important part of any vehicle description is the license number.  This provides us with the last registered owner information, the make and year of the vehicle.  Color is the next most important piece of information we need, partly because it is NOT part of the registration information. The following is all the information we need for a vehicle description:

• License
• Color
• Make
• Model
• Body Style
• Distinctive Characteristics, such as decals, body damage, racks, custom paint designs

If you are reporting an individual involved in a disturbance or a crime, look at them in order to gather information on their physical and clothing description.  Be prepared to give your information in the following order because this is the order we will ask you:

Sex Race Age Height Weight Hair color Facial hair Eye color Distinctive physical characteristics, acne, scars, braces, accents Baseball caps, knit caps, etc Color top, such as a jacket, shirt, sweatshirt Color pants, skirt Shoes

If there are any weapons involved, we will ask  What kind of weapon? Who has them? Where is the weapon on the person's body? If it was a firearm, was it a rifle, shotgun, or handgun? Was the handgun an automatic or revolver? Was it blue-steel or chrome colored? REMEMBER, ACT PRUDENTLY AND SAFELY. You don’t help anyone by putting yourself at risk and becoming another victim.