What is 911?

911 is the number to dial for the fastest possible emergency response when you need emergency POLICE, FIRE, or MEDICAL ASSISTANCE in a life or death situation.

Your call is answered by a county operator to determine if you need FIRE, MEDICAL, or POLICE assistance. When they determine if you need the police, your call is transferred to a St. Petersburg Police Department Emergency Complaint Writer.

When to dial 911

• 911 is the number to dial when an emergency is occurring or has just occurred.
• No money is needed for calling 911 from a pay phone.
• Stay calm.  Give your name, location and nature of the emergency.
• Answer the 911 Complaint Writer's questions as accurately as possible.
• Never hang up on the 911 Complaint Writer until you are told to do so.
• Do not dial 911 for non-emergency situations.
• For non-emergency situations, such as noisy neighbors or a stolen bicycle use the St. Petersburg Police non-emergency  893-7780.

How 911 Works

Example: What To Do

You are looking out of your window and notice a person breaking into your neighbor's home….

• You should immediately go to the phone and dial 911.
• An Emergency Complaint Writer will answer your call by identifying himself and will ask you to give the phone number from where you are calling. Our computer quickly verifies your correct address for the police officer who is responding to your emergency call.
• Even while you are talking, an officer is already on the way. Try to remain calm and answer all of the complaint writer's questions- we understand you may be excited.
• DO NOT HANG UP! For the safety of the officer who is on the way, it is very important that the complaint writer on the phone gets all the necessary information about the emergency and the suspects.

Information most needed:

• Phone number from where you are calling
• What happened
• Where it happened (address)
• Is anyone injured?
• Suspect description
• Vehicle description 
• License number 
• Direction of travel of suspect
• Did you see any weapons?

Never tell a 911 operator that a situation is more serious than it really is just to get faster service. It is against the law to intentionally give false information to the police.

911 Emergency Examples

• Someone breaking into your home now or one of your neighbors' homes
• Shootings
• Fires
• Traffic injury crashes
• Person screaming
• Child choking
• Fights or displays of weapons

911 IS NOT FOR: 

• Directory assistance or emergency telephone repair
• Non - Emergency Calls
• A non-emergency call is simply a request for police service that is not a life or death situation. An officer can handle some of these calls over the phone such as:
• Abandoned vehicles
• Loud party
• Barking dog
• Vandalism

The NON-EMERGENCY line
893-7780