I was having a convo with a coworker, I was showing him a video of some guy pulling a prank on some random passer by, and it didn’t look like anything illegal, but the person reacted with “I’M CALLING THE POLICE” and he actually did lol. Police showed up, figured in like 7 seconds no crime was being comitted and left.
And me and my coworker reacted “calling the police for what ???”. Why is it so casual for everyone in the USA to call down cops once they feel offended? I don’t exactly live in a third world country, but if I called the cops and there wasn’t someone shooting or being murdered, I’d be missing half of my teeth lol.
Why are there never any consequences of abusing the 911 hotline? Like, some random guy is filming a public area, some jackass comes and calls the police on him for ??? reasons, why doesn’t the guy calling the cops get slapped with a 500$ 911 abuse fine? I always found that hitting the 911 is a REAL SERIOUS SHIT, but seems like it dialing 911 in USA is like ordering a pizza. But why is it so??
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We are the go to response any time anyone has an issue they are not capable of dealing with. We have become society’s duct tape because all of the other public services have fallen apart or are currently falling apart.
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There are consequences for abusing 911 but unless it was very obviously done maliciously (not because the caller was mistaken or is just overreacting) it’s not enforced, especially on a one off event. We don’t want to discourage people from calling if there is an actual emergency.
Cops are now the society catch all. Can’t figure something out, call the cops.
>if I called the cops and there wasn’t someone shooting or being murdered, I’d be missing half of my teeth lol
The police not doing this is a big reason why. The police have also become the bandaid that gets slapped on any dispute, mental health episode, or unrest in America so people call for whatever dumb reason.
Because too many people expect the police to come out and act as some damn referee.
Because we’re not allowed to tell people “don’t call 911 for stupid shit.”
Also, per policy, if someone requests an in person response, they get it. Because the Sheriff is elected and he needs to keep the voters happy- even if it’s a collossal waste of time for his deputies.
Policing in the modern era has just become adult babysitting.
I work in 911 and we got a call today because someone couldn’t open their screen door. smh
So many of our officer complaints arise from people being told its not a police issue.
Admin makes us cater and baby everyone who doesnt deserve it.
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I’ve take plenty of people to jail for misuse of 911 (usually drunks that keep calling in). They only go if they call 911 again AFTER I’ve warned them not to the 1st time
As annoying as it seems, and very inefficient, reading this post kind of made me realize a potential upside. From one perspective, you could say it’s a good thing that our country’s citizens feel so comfortable and trusting of police, that they call them for anything and everything. Of course this is a straw man argument, but was just an interesting thought that your post spurred. Although, police in the US as scrutinized like no other, there’s no question folks still pick up that phone quickly in any situation they’re frazzled. Haha.
Edit: I think if our citizens began to not call the police for every little thing, it’d be a drastic change that wouldn’t be a good one in the US. This likely isn’t the case in other countries, as the culture surrounding the job of law enforcement is different, but here, citizens take the “public servant” aspect quite seriously. Haha.
It’s the only social service left to call for help so they get called for literally everything
You should ask my neighbor, that old bitch calls the cops twice a month over literally NOTHING. Like kids playing “too loudly” in the common area behind her house
We are the catch all for all issues. Someone doing something you don’t like but not illegal? Call the cops. Someone hurt your feelings? Call the cops. Your neighbor parking front of your house? Call the cops. Your neighbor making too much noise? Call the cops. Someone is having fun but it sounds like too much fun (actual call I’ve been dispatched to) call the cops. This isn’t even scratching the surface of the bullshit we get sent to.
We are both the most hated yet the most commonly requested city/county/state resource. Most of the time people invite us into their problems it’s not something we can legally do anything about, and then they hate us for that. Yet when it is actually something we can legally deal with they hate us for taking the action we are required to take because they just wanted us to “calm the situation” and walk away, which most of the time we legally can’t do.
It’s truly wild.
I don’t know, but every time I got into a fight in my teens and early twenties the cops were called in some fashion, and that’s because my fellow Americans are sore fucking losers.
Because our society is weak.
Adults incapable of behaving like adults is why.
We a lady call us because her cat was in heat and needed us to find it a man. She was legit crazy and called 911 a ridiculous number of times every year, but charges would never stick because she was nuts.
911 is an easy number to dial and some people keep it on speed dial.
As far as videos of someone pulling a prank on a random person…that’s called being an asshole and fuck those people, especially when they do it for views to monetize their shitty YouTube or TikTok channel. Random people going about their business don’t exist to be amusement for some jackass.
Because we don’t charge people for abuse of the 911 system like we should.
The weird 911’s come in. We had a business owner call 911 one day saying their was a fight with weapons outside his front door. Rush hour was in progress so you can imagine the stress trying to get through it all. First units arrived on scene then called everyone else off. Then they marked 10-81 with the business owner. (old 10 codes) Seems the man was mad at people parking in the spaces assigned his business and he knew a parking complaint would likely be a slow response during rush hour. Off to jail he went.
It’s not normal. Most people have never called the cops about anything…
Only time I would is if it involved someone hurting children or missing kid, kidnapping situations etc
Child predators don’t get protection via the G code.
It’s kind of like why there are so many mentally ill people incarcerated because it’s the one place that can’t say no.
It’s so easy to get yourself in trouble or sued if you try to take matters into your own hands, always safer to call the police and let them sort it out.
I’m not law enforcement just to clarify. From a non Leo perspective, lawyers and the justice department are the problem . if you have anything of value and get into the wrong situation you get sued. Everyone knows cops have qualified immunity, why take the risk. Lawsuits have made the police have to respond to every call for service. The justice department also has fined, and jailed citizens for helping certain individuals/situations and by the time they get appealed, the justice department message has been sent, unless you’re the gov, call the gov. Plus you have a situation in USA of fatherless homes, and women will call more often. The fatherless homes situation then places into the teenage kids getting trouble (more police visits) etc .
Cultural Differences
Unless I’m mistaken, in Germany you can be charged with a violation for merely insulting a law enforcement officer.
Funny that people think that police in the U.S. are jackbooted militarized thugs, when a fairly progressive European country has such a draconian law.
For better or worse, we are public servants first before we are law enforcement officers. That means answering calls like this and doing our best to mediate or whatever else is necessary. It also means taking any amount of verbal abuse up to (and sometimes including) a direct threat.
I’d rather freedom of speech be a staunchly protected right. I can take the insults. My feelings aren’t hurt.
Someone called saying that their heater was too hot and they could not turn it down.
Someone’s cat has been attacking their son now he is stuck in the bathroom. Caller is 57 YO…
A bat came in through the window can’t get it out.
Parked car outside is suspicious has been there for hours.
311 quality of life calls Noise, double parked car, loud vehicle.
Lol, harassment call some ladies were laughing at him
Everyone has a knife or firearm on a dispute to get us to respond faster.
Why cant towns create a 2nd level or tier of police officers that handle different stuff, like they cant shoot anybody but should be able to handle the stuff that Cops would say “dont call us for stupid crap”. if the situation gets worse then yes they can call the cops for needed support but for the dv stuff, the arguments that spill into crap and all the other crap that dont need the level of force, there should be a send level of police per say. No offence to animal patrol.
I’m just trying to figure out how you think this is strictly a US thing. There are running gags of UK police being basically nanny’s for the citizens, TV shows of other police forces across the world being the same bumbling gumshoes. What makes you think this isn’t happening everywhere else?
Pd, fire EMS and garbage get everything left over. Broken window call Pd. Smells funny get Fd, drops over EMS stinky mess call garbage.
Because we’re the basic response unit for everything from crime to “I’m scared” to “I flipped my car” to “hey I’ve been shot” to “hey I’m lying on the ground and can’t get up” to “hey sorry to bother you but my boyfriend’s having a psychotic break and is trying to dig the wires out of his arm with a shard of glass.”
Which is fine, I like public service. It’s just funny that we get called for literally everything by even the most cop-hatingest mfs, and then when we show up we’re told that we’re pigs and the complainant decides they don’t want to give a statement and we hate the public and all we do is guard the middle class.
Sometimes people go through the nonemergency hotline instead of 911, and the dispatchers filter the call. They cops will show up but theyll delay their time getting there by making you a low priority.
I dont know what percentage, but a good portion of our calls for service are not police matters. A lot of it is people who just want someone to come solve their problems for them. Family problems, Child complaints, Civil Disputes, just to name a few.
As a dispatcher I ask myself this very question EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
People don’t know the difference between civil and criminal law. You can sue / “press charges” on someone for virtually anything in civil court (i.e. “being offended” like in your post) vs. what police can criminally enforce / take people to jail for. The narrative on social media is often “sue for this” “sue for that” but that doesn’t equate to being able to press criminal charges and make a police report
Everyone thinks they are the center of the universe
How am I allowed to comment? I’m nowhere near being a cop
IIRC, it is rather difficult to take action for 911 abuse, at least on the EMS side. It takes multiple offenses within a certain time frame and multiple warnings within that time frame before action can be taken. Might be different for the LEO side. This is in California as well.
You would rather people beat the shit out of each other?
I’m 6’6″ 260 pounds. That situation isn’t gonna workout for most folks.
People have not been taught conflict resolution as children, depending on helicopter parents and teachers always available to mediate their every problem. The skills of the FAFO generation have been replaced by the courts and government officials due to the rise of a more litigious society coupled with a far more coddled generation.
Cue the “Okay Boomer” comments. Full disclosure I’m a millennial.
People are cowards
In the US there a really two factions: those who call the police over everything, and those who will not call no matter what.
Because I’m not allowed to handle someone myself and if I do you’ll arrest me. So it’s your problem.
As a dispatcher, 90% of the calls we get are simple issues that can be handled by acting like an adult. People just don’t know how to not be fools anymore.
What was the prank?