Remain calm, have details when calling 911

How do you report a crime? Call 911 when a crime is in progress or if it is a medical emergency or an incident that has resulted in serious personal injury, property damage or property loss.

When you call, try to remain calm and be ready to provide as many of the following facts as you have available:

1. What happened? Be as brief as possible and keep the information as close to the bare-bone facts as possible.

2. Where (address) and when did it occur?

3. Is anyone injured?

4. Description of vehicle(s)?

5. License plate number(s)?

6. Time and direction of travel of suspect(s)?

7. Description of suspect(s), including clothing?

While it may seem as though you are being asked a lot of questions, the information is for the safety of the responding officers. We are trying to gather information about the situation so the responding officers will have a clearer picture of what they may encounter when they arrive at the scene.

If you call the police department and you were wrong, that’s OK; you will not be in trouble. Your role as a concerned citizen and good neighbor is to report whatever you think is wrong or suspicious.

Try to avoid taking any risks. Your safety, and that of your loved ones, is important. Keep away from a crime scene to preserve evidence.

Can you report a crime anonymously? Yes, but you should know that when you call 911 your phone number, name and address are automatically displayed on the communication operator’s monitor, in most cases. This is done to provide the information to responding police, fire and emergency medical technicians in case you are unable to remain on the phone due to your individual situation, such as a heart attack, smoke from a fire, etc.

When you call 911 to report a crime, you can ask the communications operator to maintain your anonymity and this will be done whenever possible.

March 15. Suspicious: Many years of night shift and the sleep pattern is consistent, but the neighbors think it’s a strange time for taking a walk at 2:30 a.m. in the 1200 block of Marwood Street.

Suspicious: The man wrapped up in blankets sleeping on the bench is heading back to Las Vegas on the bus at 10:24 p.m. in the area of Nevada Way and Joshua Street.

March 16. Reckless: It seems the merge area on Interstate 11 is a major source of road rage when drivers have different ideas on the meaning of the term at 8:17 a.m. in the area of U.S. Highway 93 and Veterans Memorial Drive.

Family disturbance: The caller states he has been kicked in the business by a drunk woman, and he now wants his $20 back at 9:27 p.m. in the 1400 block of Boulder City Parkway.

Thought for the day: Guess it’s over the top to expect anything for $20 these days.

March 17. Trespass: The management wants the subject to leave, but each time he is asked he locks himself in the bathroom for an extended time, and they have finally lost patience at 2:24 a.m. in the 1100 block of Boulder City Parkway.

Fireworks: The bottle rockets are one thing, but launching them from the living room is another at 10:15 p.m. in the 1300 block of Capri Drive.

March 18. Disturbance:The caller wants to report that an underage drinking party needs to be shut down after it did not meet their expectations at 12:52 a.m. in the area of Pueblo Drive and the horse streets.

Burglary: The homeowner returns to find the doors open and the house ransacked at 4:43 p.m. in the 700 block of Fairway Drive.

Thought for the day: Sometimes the bad guys are hitting during daylight hours, too.

March 19. Grand theft: Mom brings her daughter in after a cellphone is taken at school by a known person at 2:21 p.m. in the 1100 block of Fifth Street.

Drunk: The caller states that numerous people are inside and outside his home, including under the bed, at 10:28 p.m. in the 1600 block of Boulder City Parkway.

Thought for the day: The offenders are not located inside, outside or under the bed, but the caller insists they will return when officers leave.

March 20. Civil: The caller states they just purchased a vehicle and it has been stolen from the driveway at 5:43 p.m. in the 600 block of Avenue D.

Assist other department: The big rig fire causes quite a commotion when the fuel load ignites with a bang and a light show at 9:02 p.m. in the area of State Route 165 (Nelson Road) and U.S. Highway 95.

Thought for the day: The newly purchased vehicle was repossessed by a previous creditor, and the new owner is wondering what just happened.

March 21. Suspicious: The caller states they see a large plume of smoke on their way to work at 7:43 a.m. in the 1200 block of Boulder City Parkway.

Reckless: The driver is long on alcohol and short on luck, even though he practices the fine art of verbal sparring with the officer and loses at 8:44 p.m. in the 1400 block of Medical Park Drive.

Thought for the day: We successfully saved the train by alerting the surprised conductor that he was smoking excessively and should probably seek counseling.

Call(s) of the week: DUI: The intoxicated woman seems extra cranky when questioned about the creative driving skills she has been exhibiting. She informs the officer she cannot participate in field sobriety testing as she is not wearing pants and is pressed for time on picking up a to-go order. A failed breath test, swan dive to the pavement, stitches and blood draw later, the sloshed up half-streaker is on her way to the slammer, without the to-go order, at 4:08 p.m. March 16 in the 1100 block of Colorado Street.

Tina Ransom is a dispatcher with the Boulder City Police Department. She is coordinator of the Boulder City Citizen’s Academy.