Wake up to find your car broken into? Dealing with a loud neighbor or barking dog? If you want to call police but you’re not in an emergency situation, authorities have a new number you can call: 311.
Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency quietly rolled out the new nonemergency line earlier this month, with plans of doing educational campaigns about the phone number in the early part of October.
“The call volume is getting to be more and more as time goes on, and a lot of those calls that come in are actually nonemergency,” said Eric Frank, emergency management coordinator. “We really wanted to come up with an option that helps (dispatchers) prioritize calls and help them get to the calls they need to be on.”
The agency has been working on the number for quite some time but was finally able to make it happen this year.
“Life safety is our No. 1 priority,” Frank said. “We’re budgeting the money to get help to who needs it the most.”
Examples of calls that are nonemergency include things such as abandoned vehicles, noise complaints and reporting a crime after it’s happened.
“Things where they are not a life-safety issue,” Frank said. “If it’s a medical call or if you’re in doubt, we still want you to call 911.”
Reasons to call 911, Frank explained, still include such situations as fires, medical issues, injury or property damage, suspicious activities, and in-progress crimes and emergencies such as fights or traffic crashes.
When someone calls 311, Frank said, it shows up differently on a dispatcher’s screen — letting them know that if they are busy with an emergency call, they can continue with that call. If dispatchers are busy, callers to the 311 line may get a recording that lists other agency numbers or asks the caller to leave a message.
“It singles out and puts people in prioritization so dispatchers can really concentrate on 911 calls first,” Frank said.
Katy Myers, operations manager at the 911 agency, said set-up costs for the 311 line have been relatively modest: less than $10,000 toward a few new phone lines at the office. The agency also had to work with phone carriers to set up the number, a process it started in June.
“It’s not a huge cost as far as that goes, so it works out pretty well,” she said.
As with 911 calls, when people call 311 near the Columbia River, their call may bounce to a Portland tower and so will be sent to a dispatch center in Portland. People can also use 360-693-3111.
Myers said the agency is still working with a few smaller phone carriers to set up 311 service.
“If people can’t get through on 311, they can still call in on the 10-digit number,” she said.
