NWSCA
| Northwest Security Coordinators Online Newsletter |
August 1999
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Call the Police
Captain M. Smith, District One Commander
Unfortunately, most citizens must call the police at some time in their
lives. Yet, very few citizens ever think about this process until
we pick up the phone. Let’s take a few minutes now and go over the
right way to get the appropriate response.
The most serious need for police service is a genuine emergency situation.
A vehicle wreck with injuries, an attempted burglary in progress, a sexual
assault in progress are just a few of the serious life threatening situations
that should be considered as an emergency. We in the Greater Harris
County area are fortunate to have The Greater 9-1-1 Network. Please
don’t hesitate to utilize this service if you think an emergency situation
exists.
A more common need for police service involves a non-emergency call.
These calls can range from non-injury accidents to loud music disturbances.
These calls will be handled as soon as possible but life threatening emergency
calls are given the highest priority. Some people erroneously believe
if they call 9-1-1 with a non-emergency call, it will be given
a higher priority. This is untrue! Trained dispatch personnel
screen all 9-1-1 calls before a priority is assigned. Please
reserve the 9-1-1 for emergency calls only.
A common complaint received by our supervisors regarding calls involves
what I call a chronic situation. On every Friday at 5:00 the same
car speeds away from a worksite and drives exceedingly fast down your street.
You call the non-emergency dispatch number and police unit is dispatch.
By the time the officer arrives the speeder is in the next county.
You’re frustrated, the officer is frustrated, and nothing is resolved.
For situations like these that are reoccurring or occur on a predictable
basis, call the local substation and report the situation, in advance,
to a supervisor. The supervisor will then assign a police car to
be at the site before the violation occurs. If the officer doesn’t
catch the violator on the first attempt he can try again. Sometimes the
violations cease when the violator becomes aware the police have been called.
If your area has a contract deputy, you can let the Security Coordinators
handle contacting the contract deputy directly.
If you have any questions concerning the enforcement effort, after
you call, contact the North District Substation and ask to speak to a supervisor.
Editor’s Note: When calling any business or service,
get the name of the person with whom you are talking. Write the name
down and keep it along with notes from the conversation for
future reference.
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