When To Call
You should call 911 whenever you need to report a crime in progress or you need:
Police, Fire or Medical Assistance for an emergency situation.
You should not call 911:
- To report power or cable outages, unless downed wires present a hazard.
- To ask about community events, for directions, or for information.
- To file a police report for a crime that occurred earlier and there is no suspect information.
- Situations where emergency personnel are needed but there is no immediate danger to life or property.
- Found pet or property.
- Illegal fireworks complaints.
In these instances, call our non-emergency dispatch number (425) 407-3999
When You Call
- Speak calmly and clearly.
- Tell the emergency operator what type of problem you have.
- Answer the questions that the emergency operator asks. Be prepared to give the location of the problem, your phone number and your name.
- Cooperate with the emergency operator, some information that may not seem important to you could be very important to responding emergency personnel.
- Stay on the line if requested to do so by the emergency operator. Emergency units can be dispatched and on the way while you are still on the phone.
- Follow the instructions that the emergency operator gives you.
Enhanced 911
Enhanced 911 is a system that provides the callers phone number and address to the emergency dispatcher when dialing 9-1-1. The emergency operator will still ask you your location and phone number as a precaution. Some phones, especially PBX exchanges, cellular, and some apartment private exchanges may not provide this information to the emergency operator.
If a hang-up call is received by the emergency operator on a 911 line, a phone call will be made to the number that it came from to try to determine if there is a problem. If there is no answer or a suspicious response, the police will be dispatched to the location. Often these calls occur when programming emergency numbers into phones or when children play with the phone.
Additional Information
To assist Police and Fire personnel in locating you, make sure that your house numbers are clearly visible from the street. Paint the numbers a contrasting color and make sure that they are illuminated at night. Numbers on the street curbs can also assist in locating your house in an emergency.
Keep your address and phone number posted near each phone so that in an emergency the information is available . It is easy for a person to mix up or not remember these numbers in an emergency .
If you are calling from a cellular phone try to verify the location of the problem that you are calling about. Give the emergency operator your cellular and your home phone number.