Connecticut has a statewide enhanced 9-1-1 system. Enhanced 9-1-1 provides three-digit dialing, no coin required from pay telephones and intelligent routing to the Public Safety Answering Point responsible for the area where the phone is located. Our system displays the caller’s name, address and telephone number at the Center for the dispatcher’s reference. The system also has the ability to ring-back the caller on hang-up and the ability to transfer callers to other agencies or telephone numbers.
9-1-1 is an statewide emergency number for any police, fire or medical incident. We have assembled some Do’s and Don’ts of 9-1-1 for your use.
Instead, dial the agency’s listed 7-digit non-emergency telephone number. Examples of non-emergency incidents are a break-in to a vehicle when suspect is gone, theft of property (when suspect is gone), vandalism (when suspect is gone), panhandlers, intoxicated persons who are not disorderly, or cars blocking the street or alleys. Requests for general information not related to an incident in progress should never be made to 9-1-1. Instead please call the appropriate agency direct by using their non-emergency number.
For most people, power failures are an inconvenience, not an emergency. Calling 9-1-1 to ask questions of this type only serve to tie up a limited number of phone lines keeping those with real emergencies from getting the help they need. While we were answering these calls, people who had true emergencies (people stuck in elevators, people whose medical equipment had failed, people reporting vehicle accidents with injuries, etc.) could not get through to us.
If you feel that you must call to report a power failure, call your police or fire department’s non-emergency phone number. If you have a true power-related emergency, please call 9-1-1 and we will send help.
If you dialed 9-1-1 in error, do not hang up the telephone. Instead, stay on the line and explain to the dispatcher that you dialed by mistake and that you do not have an emergency. If you hang up, a dispatcher will call back to confirm that there is no emergency. Depending on the jurisdiction involved, a police officer may be dispatched to confirm that you are OK. If you don’t answer when we call back, a police officer will be dispatched to confirm that you are OK. This will needlessly take resources away from genuine emergencies.
