Call 911 only in true emergencies

Please help us reduce the abuse of the 911 Emergency Call System. A dispatcher’s job is to keep our responders and the public safe. When our lines are tied up by people who abuse the system, we are unable to help those in dire need of our help.

We spend our days dealing with high-stress situations, and we do our best to guarantee a safe outcome for everyone involved. Please respect the 911 emergency system and call only for true emergencies.

We are here to help in times of emergency, but our lines are continuously tied up by people who don’t have one. We are not “information” and will not be able to provide you phone numbers, including the nonemergency line to the police department. No time of day, weather reports or questions involving wildlife (unless they are attacking or are in your house).

We are not the constable’s office and we will not be able to assist in evicting the roommate who won’t wash the bathroom sink or the dishes. We are not the family court and will not intercede in child exchanges other than being present for the exchange to keep the peace.

An electrical or water outage is not an emergency unless you require breathing equipment or other lifesaving services. If the weather is extremely hot or cold, please take immediate action to move your family to an area with proper temperature controls. We will never know how long an outage will be or what caused it.

The crews are called out (if we can get a free phone line) and they will be busy working to restore service. Only on rare occasions will we receive updates for extended outages. We make every attempt to update the status on our call recording but often there is nothing to report until it is complete.

Please do not shout or scream into a phone or speakerphone. We can’t hear you clearly. We know you are upset, but we can’t help if we can’t understand where you are or what type of assistance you need. Do not assume our computers can pick up your location. We can usually get an idea of where you are, but there is no guarantee that the information is accurate.

Many times the only information we can get is for the cellphone tower. That information might be good if you are in the same open field, but not so good if you are in a crowded store or parking lot.

Every question we ask is important. You may not think so, but we wouldn’t ask if the information was not vital. We will not send officers or paramedics into an unknown, so please just quickly answer what we ask. We have a limited number of emergency lines into each dispatch center and too many calls about the same incident can leave others with a separate situation unable to get through for those in need of dire help.

Please help by passing along this plea to your friends and family (in all jurisdictions).

Here is a list for quick reference. Please post in a prominent location.

Boulder City Police nonemergency: (311) 702-293-9224

Boulder City Municipal Court: 702-293-9278

Boulder City Justice Court: 702-455-8000

Boulder City city manager’s office: 702-293-9202

Boulder City Personnel Department: 702-293-9203

Boulder City Public Works Department: 702-293-9200

Boulder City Parks and Recreation Department: 702-293-3320

Boulder City Animal Shelter: 702-293-9283

Metropolitian Police Department: 702-828-3111

Nevada Highway Patrol: 702-486-4100, ext. 6