When do you call 911?

by Lt. Kevin Meyer, Cranberry Police Department

Everyone knows that 911 is the number to call for an emergency response, anywhere in the country. So if you have a serious situation – a fire, a wreck, a burglary, or so on – that’s who you call and that’s the number you teach your kids to call. But what if it’s not really an emergency? What if it’s a request for some other service, like getting a cat down from a tree, or help getting into your locked car, or your dog ran away, or someone’s blocking your driveway? What then? That’s a 911 call, too. The only time you would use the Cranberry Police Department’s administrative phone number, 724-776-5180, ext. 5, is to request a copy of a police report. For everything else, call 911. Why? So they can be documented to make sure no calls are overlooked.