Keep 911 for true emergencies

Remember when we, the public, were told that calling 911 was only reserved for dire emergencies? Well, that does not appear to be the case any longer, at least not in the eyes of the Palatine Police Department. The Palatine police now appear to divert many "nonemergency" calls to 911, which has happened to me twice during July.

My wife and I found it surprising that on two separate occasions when I telephoned the Palatine police, they declined to take the reported information and advised me to call 911 immediately.

My wife and I found this unusual as in both instances these calls were not dire emergencies to warrant a 911 call, or so we thought. In one instance, an inconsiderate yuppie couple left their small dog locked in a sealed car in the hot sun while they sipped at Starbucks, and in the other I reported signal lights out at the intersection of Quentin and Colfax roads.

Do these sound like 911 emergencies to you? Well, maybe, as the judgment is all relative, but in my mind 911 is reserved for burglaries, car accidents involving injured people, or house fires.

Why are the Palatine police referring so many calls to 911? Could it be because 911 receptionists track the calls better? Nope. Could it be because people filing false 911 calls face prosecution for false reports? Probably not. Or, is this just another example of budget cutting of our public service? I think so.

Donald Baumgartner

Palatine