Emergencies include:
  -  crimes that are in progress or about to happen  
  -  crimes that have resulted in serious personal injury, property damage, or property loss
  -  situations in which the suspect may still be at the scene 
  -  some suspicious activities

By calling 911, you will be linked to the appropriate responder ... police,  fire fighting, medical, or ambulance services.

The following information may assist you in determining if you need to contact the CMPD 911 Communications Call Center.  If you are interested in a career with our 911 Center, please visit our Employment Opportunities page.

Fill out an Employment Interest Card for information on current opportunities with the Communications division

Get real-time information on current accidents in Mecklenburg County.

Report Non-Emergencies Online

How 911 Works:

• Your 911 call will be one of more than 68,000 answered each month by a Telecommunicator in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
• Telecommunicators are the specially trained civilians who answer your call to 911.
• The first question the Telecommunicator will ask is if you need Police, Fire or Medic. It is important to answer that question first to avoid any delays. Calls for Fire and Medic are relayed immediately to those agencies
• If you need Police, tell the Telecommunicator what type of crime you are calling about. For example, "I'm Calling about a robbery...about a car accident...about a fight."
• Then give the location of the telephone you are calling from. If you don't know the block number, give the closest street name or intersection. 
• The Telecommunicator may ask you a variety of questions to help Dispatchers determine the priority of the call and how many officers to send
• The more information you can provide the Telecommunicator, the better assistance we can provide and the more information we can give officers before they arrive on the scene
• One of the last things the Telecommunicator will ask is if you want to be seen by the officer or be anonymous

Types of Police Response

• Because there are so many calls for police attention, calls are ranked by their urgency. If an immediate response is needed, a police car is always dispatched as soon as possible
• For other, less urgent situations, an officer may arrive up to an hour after your call
• Not every call to the Police Department is an emergency or one that requires sending a police officer to the scene. In that case, you may make a report by telephone to 311 and the Crime Reporting Unit

Reasons to use 311:
     - Your property is damaged or stolen
     - Your car or bicycle is stolen
     - Your car is broken into
     - Larceny reports
     - Group home missing person reports
     - Supplement additional information to previous reports

Reasons to Use 911:                                  
     - Life and Death Situations
     - Medical Emergencies
     - Someone is Injured
     - To Report a Crime
     - To Prevent a Crime
     - To Report a Fire

If you call 911 and it rings several times, stay on the line and DO NOT HANG UP.   A 911 Telecommunicator will answer the line shortly. If you hang up, you will be bumped to the back of the line when you call again and the original call will still be holding in the 911 queue as a hang-up call.

If you call 911 by mistake, stay on the line. Let the Telecommunicator know that you do not need police to respond.

Most Common Calls
Telecommunicators are trained to get as much information as possible. Here are examples of the three most common 911 calls.

1. Automobile Accident 
   --Give the block number or nearest location
   -- Injuries - details are not necessary
   --Fuel spill, a possible fire danger
   
2. Suspicious Person
   -- Give the sex, race and age
   --Describe the suspicious activity
   --See any weapons?
   
3. Suspicious Vehicle
   --Get vehicle description (color,make,model,year)
   --Is the vehicle occupied? (how many,age,sex,race)
   --Is the vehicle parked or moving?