A poor commentary for 9-1-1

[lrrifleman]

Yesterday, I drove an elementary school to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. After I was loaded and waiting for an opportunity to pull out of the pickup line, I was sideswiped by another school bus in what amounted to a hit-and-run accident. I called 911 moments after the impact, and at 20 and 40 minutes after the initial impact. In each call I emphasized that I was a school bus with students on board at the time of the accident. After an hour, I was still waiting for the police to arrive. At which time, my company directed me to depart the accident scene.

My feeling is that if the police can't respond to an accident involving a school bus with students on board, where on the priority scale does the victim in an armed assault lay?

 

[326MOD10]

911 is intended for emergencies. If nobody on that bus was injured you may have kept that person who was a victim of armed assault from being able to even get through to 911.

If there are no injuries your accident is not a priority. If you were still on private property, maybe less so depending on state law.

The priority calls, domestic, assaults, crimes in progress, etc... will take priority over a non-injury accident.

There are only so many officers to go around and that number is getting smaller.

There are also only so many 911 Operators available for the call load.

Hate to sound like a jerk but that is just the reality of the situation.

 

[Hair Trigger]

What did you tell the 911 operator when you called? If you said there were no injuries, they have the option of not sending an immediate response. Were you driving a standard school bus or a large motor coach under contract? Not that it matters relative to an emergency response, but you mentioned "your company" giving you instructions. If you noted the tag number or company/school district of the bus that sideswiped you, that's all you need for insurance claim purposes. I assume your bus was still drivable?

 

[Rule3]

There are no LEOS at the school? Our schools have several

 

[Denverd0n]

911 is intended for emergencies.

Some years back my car was stolen out of my driveway during the night. In the morning, when I realized it, I looked up the number for the local PD and called. They told me to call 911 to report the theft. I protested that it was not an emergency. Doesn't matter, they said, you still need to call 911.

Two years ago my sister, who had several serious health issues, died in her sleep. After not hearing from her for a couple of days, we broke into her apartment. She had clearly been dead for some time. Called a nearby hospital to ask them what to do. Yep. Call 911. But it's not an emergency! Doesn't matter, call 911.

So, 911 is not always just for emergencies.

 

[Doug M.]

Most people have no idea the volume of calls compared to the availability of 911 operators and cops. I try really hard not to call 911 for occupied disabled vehicles unless the weather is such that the situation is actually life threatening, but sometimes a direct call to dispatch is frustrating or impossible. To my amazement, the different WSP districts in this state have differing equipment and systems, so some calls work and some don't. (I have the #s of the districts in which I may travel in my phone.)

This state has the lowest number of LEOs per population in the US. I make the call and move on. I am really unlikely to interact with anyone I can avoid now that I am no longer in LE.

Our local dispatch center has been shorthanded for years. People who can make the grade are hard to find, and there was a time that the shortage was so bad that they were going to contract for other public safety employees to work part time on OT at staggering rates. (In the job from which I just retired I did a lot of contract reviews and the like.)

 

[LVSteve]

In the Vegas Valley they have a 311(?) number for "non-emergencies". It's a sop. Hold times of over an hour are normal.

Buddy's daughter was in a non-injury fender bender and tried 311. After 20 minutes, she dialed 911. They were a bit miffed when she told them there were no injuries and asked why she had not dialed 311. Her reply of "because no one answers" went down a storm, apparently. After TWO further hours, she exchanged information with the other party and they left. Then came the fight with the insurance company over there being no police report. I have little doubt the OP and his company will find themselves down that rabbit hole in short order. Oh, and all this took place on a Saturday afternoon with no big events happening in the city, but it was nowhere near the Strip. Draw your own conclusions as to the priorities here.

 

[swsig]

Police try to minimize the amount of time they spend on non-injury incidents. Forty years ago, one of our cars was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver while parked in front of our house. It demolished half the side of our car, but it was unoccupied, so no injuries. Our daughter and her boyfriend witnessed the hit and got the license of the offending vehicle. The police did come out to make a report, but instead of a prolonged further investigation, they simply called the owner of the offending vehicle and got him to confess over the phone! Our insurance company paid for the repairs and billed the offender's insurance company (surprised that he had any), and our car was fixed up good as new. I don't know what criminal charges were filed against the driver, but I'm sure his next insurance renewal (if he hadn't been dropped) involved a hefty increase in rate.

 

[dockmurgw]

I wouldn't call this a poor commentary on 911, rather I would call it a poor commentary on society in general. For far too many locations, like the one you were in during this event, public safety and a civil society are not the priority. And I'll leave it at that because I have been a good boy lately and avoiding suspensions.

 

[326MOD10]

So, 911 is not always just for emergencies.

In regard to the call with your sister (my condolences) 911 would be appropriate as the medical personnel would still need to be dispatched to confirm death. PD would want to be there ASAP in case there was foul play and a crime scene that needed guarding. You know what you believe happened but you never know.

In regard to the stolen car, not knowing how big your area is, it could be an issue of a consolidated emergency dispatch for several agencies and the person at the PD was to lazy to transfer the call or provide the admin number. Or maybe a small enough place where a stolen car is a big deal

I worked in a good size city with a county ran Dispatch. 911 handled Sheriff, PD, Fire and Medical. And if call was for ambulance they would transfer to that companies dispatch after getting fire and PD rolling if needed.

 

[SMSgt]

Back in 2011 I worked at a FL weigh station as a weight inspector. One day a vehicle caught fire on the interstate by the station. I called 911. They put me on hold for two minutes. Needless to say, it only took a couple of minutes to put out what was left of the fire when the FD arrived.

 

[HardToHandle]

In the Vegas Valley they have a 311(?) number for "non-emergencies". It's a sop. Hold times of over an hour are normal.

Buddy's daughter was in a non-injury fender bender and tried 311. After 20 minutes, she dialed 911. They were a bit miffed when she told them there were no injuries and asked why she had not dialed 311. Her reply of "because no one answers" went down a storm, apparently. After TWO further hours, she exchanged information with the other party and they left. Then came the fight with the insurance company over there being no police report. I have little doubt the OP and his company will find themselves down that rabbit hole in short order. Oh, and all this took place on a Saturday afternoon with no big events happening in the city, but it was nowhere near the Strip. Draw your own conclusions as to the priorities here.

You get the government you vote for.
Or at least the majority of your fellow citizens vote for.

911 is heavily local tax funded with a sprinkling of state dollars across a majority of states. Quality 911 services are hugely dependent on hiring, training and then retaining good employees, especially the type who can handle heavy stress and work terrible hours. Finding good cops right off the street is tough, finding good dispatchers is much harder.

911 service, or lack thereof, is a bit of a leading indicator of a community. I will leave it to you to decide what the indicator points towards.

 

[LVSteve]

Police try to minimize the amount of time they spend on non-injury incidents. Forty years ago, one of our cars was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver while parked in front of our house. It demolished half the side of our car, but it was unoccupied, so no injuries. Our daughter and her boyfriend witnessed the hit and got the license of the offending vehicle. The police did come out to make a report, but instead of a prolonged further investigation, they simply called the owner of the offending vehicle and got him to confess over the phone! Our insurance company paid for the repairs and billed the offender's insurance company (surprised that he had any), and our car was fixed up good as new. I don't know what criminal charges were filed against the driver, but I'm sure his next insurance renewal (if he hadn't been dropped) involved a hefty increase in rate.

The clue is at the beginning of your second sentence, "Forty years ago...". These days it's deny, deny, deny. Insurance? Yeah, that's treated as optional these days.

Then there are the insurance companies. "Yeah, we got the police report, but where's the video?" Then there is the "knock for knock" games the insurance cartel plays. The insurance companies don't want to fight amongst themselves, so each pays for the other's repairs and both customers get their rates raised, regardless of who was obviously at fault.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

My feeling is that if the police can't respond to an accident involving a school bus with students on board, where on the priority scale does the victim in an armed assault lay?

Ahead of you.

In many jurisdictions a non-injury Traffic Accident the parties involved exchanged information and let the Insurance Companies handled it.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

There are no LEOS at the school? Our schools have several

Over the years they do not have LEOs at schools and some places just Security or "Adult Monitors".

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Some years back my car was stolen out of my driveway during the night. In the morning, when I realized it, I looked up the number for the local PD and called. They told me to call 911 to report the theft. I protested that it was not an emergency. Doesn't matter, they said, you still need to call 911.

Two years ago my sister, who had several serious health issues, died in her sleep. After not hearing from her for a couple of days, we broke into her apartment. She had clearly been dead for some time. Called a nearby hospital to ask them what to do. Yep. Call 911. But it's not an emergency! Doesn't matter, call 911.

So, 911 is not always just for emergencies.

Where you live, they (Mayor, Sheriff, Chief) decided that 911 will handle all calls and the Dispatcher will rank the Call.

 

[Onomea]

I think whether to call 911 or not likely depends on the policy of the district one happens to be in, as indicated by posters above being directed to call 911 in non emergencies.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

This state has the lowest number of LEOs per population in the US. I make the call and move on. I am really unlikely to interact with anyone I can avoid now that I am no longer in LE.

Interesting CA has the highest number of LEOs per population.

 

[LVSteve]

There are no LEOS at the school? Our schools have several

We have a school district police force, but it is pretty rare to see one at a school unless they have been summoned.

 

[lrrifleman]

911 is intended for emergencies. If nobody on that bus was injured you may have kept that person who was a victim of armed assault from being able to even get through to 911.

If there are no injuries your accident is not a priority. If you were still on private property, maybe less so depending on state law.

The priority calls, domestic, assaults, crimes in progress, etc... will take priority over a non-injury accident.

There are only so many officers to go around and that number is getting smaller.

There are also only so many 911 Operators available for the call load.

Hate to sound like a jerk but that is just the reality of the situation.

You aren't sounding like a jerk. My issue, is that I'm being governed by DOT regulations. Unless police are a no-show and I'm directed by my company, I need to provide an accident report from the police. I still had to wait close to an hour with irate teachers and students that were missing their rides home from school.