WASHINGTON — With an estimated 1.2 million 911 calls in fiscal year 2024, the District's 911 call center is one of the busiest in nation, according to the Office of Unified Communication (OUC) who oversees the department. However, the agency says nearly one in every four of those calls were not emergencies.
Tenaj Gueory who works as a 911 call taker said the number does not surprise her.
"Other days sometimes it's more frequent than one in four," she told WUSA9.
According to OUC the most common non-emergency issues that 911 call takers get are regarding:
- Parking Enforcement
- Noise complaints
- Lost, found, or stollen property
- Crimes that occurred in the past with no injury or suspect on the scene
- Illegal dumping
"From the community what I hear is, we just don't know who to call, so we call 911," OUC Director Heather McGaffin told WUSA9. That is why she is launching the “Make the Right Call” campaign. The effort is aimed at educating Washingtonians and visitors about when it is appropriate to call 911 versus 311.
The District's 311 service connects callers searching for DC Government services, numbers, and information like:
- Bulk pick-ups
- Report illegal dumping
- Parking enforcement
- Missed scheduled service, such as trash or recycling
- City agency phone numbers and hours of operation
- Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) related calls
- Other customer service-related items
OUC oversees the designated call center for all 311 calls and for all District 911 calls. The call center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"If we can connect you right from the start with the people who are best able to help you that's a gamechanger," McGaffin added. She said the campaign is not only about reducing the call volume for her team who already is dealing with a stressful job, but also cutting down on call times. “In order to achieve this goal, we need to reserve the emergency system for emergencies. Please do not let non-emergencies compete with real ones. Only dial 911 when health, safety, and property are in immediate danger.”
McGaffin said a caller should reach out to 911 if "a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic showing up is going to change the course of an action in this moment." She said the example she often gives people is "If you wake up in the morning and someone's taken your wallet, that's a 311 call. If walk outside and someone is actively breaking into your car trying to get to your wallet that's a 911 call."
OUC says 911 calls are for when health, safety, and property are in immediate danger, like:
- Crime in progress and/or when the offender is still on the scene
- All fires and medical emergencies
- Home and business intruders
- Vehicle crashes involving personal injury, major property damage, or traffic tie-ups
- Sighting of a criminal whom you know is wanted by the police
McGaffin said some issues are more nuanced and require calling 311 and then pressing 1 for the police non-emergency line. These are incidents that may require police enforcement but are not an emergency, like:
- Noise complaints
- Lost, found, or stolen property
- Fraud or forgery
- Crimes or incidents that happened in the past, no injury, and/or the suspect is no longer on the scene
- Unoccupied vehicle-related incidents
- Traffic complaints
- Vandalism or graffiti
- Property damage or destruction of property
- Loitering
Gueory says callers sometimes assume that as a 911 call taker she has access to the services at 311.
She said, "Me transferring is saying that you're not important it's just that I am not equipped to take your call. I can take down the information, but I don't know who to put it."