-> From Dec. JEMS:
->
-> The city of Baltimore began pilot testing the first police 3-1-1
-> proggram Oct. 2.... People are encouraged to dial 3-1-1 to report
-> crimes that have already occurred, noisy neighbors, barking dogs....
-> The calls are answered by police officers trained to route emergency
-> calls to 9-1-1 dispatchers.
-> ...it does not appear to have solved the police department's problem
-> wwith nonemergency calls. We dialed the department's seven-digit
-> number to interview someone about the new program, but after
-> listening for five minutes to a recording repeating, "All operators
-> are busy; please do not hang up," we hung up.
->
->
-> What I want to know is what number do you call to report crimes
-> before they happen???
->
-> James Nold EMT-P
 
For what kind of crime? If it is a life-threatening crime or a
short-term time sensitive crime, I'd call 911...if not, I'd call the
non-emergency number. I believe it is a combination of no public
education and laziness (people don't want to call information or look
in the phone book for the non-emergency number).
 
I would have thought that a 311 number would work. How long has it been
used? Just like 911 when it started, 311 would take some time and
education to finally be used properly. The above mentioned  system,
though, sounds like it's simply overwhelmed...
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