The 911 call processing system: A review of the literature as it relates to policing

Police spend an inordinate amount of time responding to 911 calls for service. While most of these calls are unrelated to crimes in progress, police often respond with the tool that is most familiar and expedient to them: enforcement. This exhausts police resources and exposes countless people to avoidable criminal justice system contacts. There is a pressing need for data-informed strategies to identify 911 calls that present a true public safety emergency and require an immediate police response, while responding to other calls in ways that do not tax limited policing resources and promote better outcomes for the people involved and the communities where they reside. This report summarizes the current state of 911 research, discusses the problems and potential of current 911 data collection practices, and recommends steps that law enforcement and emergency communications professionals can take to conserve resources and help ensure that the right response reaches the right caller at the right time.