At the end of my previous article about the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) community meeting, I shared some good news about Portland’s 911 response. I recently had to call 911 for a medical (but not life or death) emergency occurring in a local coffee shop and was on the phone with a live person within 20 seconds. EMS arrived several minutes later. I was pleased with that response and wanted to make sure that the word got out about it. There’s enough to complain about, living in Portland, but it’s important to acknowledge improvements and put away the trope that we have to wait 10 minutes before reaching someone.

The discussion of emergency response times prompted questions about when – or when not – to call 911. I use PPB as an example, but no matter what your local jurisdiction, there’s a similar process for emergencies and non-emergencies.

We’ll start with the worst scenarios where you need an immediate response from police or EMS – this is definitely the time to call 911. In these situations, perhaps the most important piece of information you’ll need is an address. This coffee shop I was at literally did not have one – I didn’t know you could have a business without an address! I gave the address of the adjacent buildings and the cross street.

Another critical piece of information was that the person was conscious and breathing. If they weren’t, it would have been critical to convey the level of emergency right away. Before I made the call, I also received concurrence to call 911 from the victim’s companions. Although it was instinctual at the time, it wasn’t till after EMS had arrived that I realized I may have incurred a medical expense to the victim. I’d love to say I was cool as a cucumber making the call, but I could feel my heart racing and the words tumbling out of my mouth in a rush to the dispatcher. I had to take a breath [just like I teach in training classes] and slow down.

Setting aside obvious medical issues, Portland 911 should definitely be called when there are issues of safety (like a person menacing with a baseball bat) or person-on-person crime (a person doing something harmful or physically threatening to another person). Portland Police calls these “an active threat or emergent criseis.” Be prepared to describe what you see and consider moving to a safer location to make the call.

The vast majority of crimes in Portland can, and should, be reported through the online portal (portland.gov/police/cor) or by calling 311 or 503-823-3333, the city’s non-emergency number. When you visit the portal, the site will walk you through seven questions to identify whether you can report online or if you need to call the non-emergency number. If you call, you’ll talk with a live person who will assess the situation. Most of the time, car accidents (without injuries), damage, theft, or harm to physical objects do not rise to the emergent dispatching of police, and we gum up the system by calling 911.

One relevant and important exception is Bias Crimes, and those are expressly not permitted to be filed online - call 311 if the criminal act is over, and they will dispatch an officer to take a report. I have had excellent experiences calling this number.

It is important to report crimes! I once had my car broken into. I could have decided not to report it; they didn’t get much, but these reports are how city leaders know what’s going on in town – if we don’t report, they won’t have an accurate picture of property crime.

“The Police Bureau uses the data generated from your report to identify patterns and trends across the city. This helps us develop new strategies for addressing crime and distribute agency resources to the areas of greatest need,” PPB’s website explains. “Your report is of great value to this agency, your neighborhood, and the city more broadly.”

PPB’s online system even attempts a sense of humor; when I reported the vehicle break-in online, part of the digital response I received was, “Be thankful they didn’t steal your car!” While true, the joke fell a little flat at the time, as I recall.

Portland Police and many other jurisdictions are in the middle of hiring challenges, and it means resources will remain thin in the short term. Knowledge of how to best use and contact these services helps everyone in the community.

As always, if you have questions about something in this article or want to get in touch for training or to report bias incidents, reach out at janderson@securecommunitynetwork.org or 872-273-9214.