There is no global rule about when 911 vs a non-emergency number is correct. I've lived in a city where 911 is the only way to reach police dispatch, and police dispatch is the only way to get a police report taken, even if it's just for insurance reasons the day after a fire or something. I learned this by calling the city's non-emergency line, and they told me to call 911. What's the non-emergency line for then? Stuff like reporting a pothole on your street, a dangerous building that needs inspection, illegal dumping, a traffic signal's out, etc.

Cities can be completely inconsistent on this. At a building in a mid-sized city in California, we had the police department advise us to call their non-emergency number for emergencies and let the dispatcher know that we actually had an emergency, because this would reach the department directly, whereas calling 911 would usually reach the CHP, and there were apparently problems with communication between the CHP and the department. They said that their non-emergency line reached the same dispatchers that 911 calls routed to the department would reach.

> I've lived in a city where 911 is the only way to reach police dispatch

My current city is like this, but more. If you need to reach a detective to return a call, you need to call 911 and ask to be transferred. Otoh, CenturyLink has broken 911 service for days a couple times since I moved here; an alternate number for the county has been provided, which will probably work for emergencies, but maybe not for returning calls.

In NY you can call your local precinct directly for that kind of thing.

If you need the police to come for some reason, even a car parked too long on the street, you call 911. There's no bar to meet.

Where I live, 911 might not answer, though. I've had that experience.

Thank you for pointing that out. Is it that my idea of when to call is too narrow? I am having a hard time understanding the difference between what I listed and official resources[1] which say things like

> 911 is to be used for emergencies only. An emergency is any serious medical problem (chest pain, seizure, bleeding), any type of fire (business, car, building), any life-threatening situation (fights, person with weapons, etc.) or to report crimes in progress.

1. https://www.fcva.us/departments/public-safety-communications...

This won't solve 100% of cases, but when in doubt (and if life or limb aren't at risk), can't you call 311 and let them tell you, if necessary, to hang up and dial 911 instead?

This is the first time I can recall hearing of 311. Apparently there's a wiki page on it. Looks like it might not be available everywhere.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-1-1

You can and eventually you will be transferred but you will absolutely be met with the: "Sir, next time call 911". I speak from experience.

Yes, it's too narrow. The 911 dispatcher on the other side is a human being who can handle priorities.

A good example is if you have a disabled vehicle blocking an intersection - that's a 911 call.