Chief Godbee urges Detroiters to make the right call for public safety

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - The City of Detroit continually work to improve the 9-1-1 system with multi-language and Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) support, staffed by trained dispatchers. When a citizen calls 9-1 -1, police resources are sent out based on identified threats to Life, Safety and
Property.

Godbee said the goal of Monday's news conference was to educate the public about when to call 911 for an emergency and when to call the Telephone Crime Reporting Unit to file a report for nonemergency incidents.

"Our purpose is to apprise the public about what to expect once the new system is implemented and to be able to service them in a more expeditious way," Godbee said. "We also want to allay any fears that their districts will be closed. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Educating the public will be the primary goal for the department on when to dial 9-1-1 for an emergency and when to call the Telephone Crime Reporting (Virtual Precinct) unit to file a report for non-emergency incidents; and what to expect when arriving at a Detroit Police Department station, between the hours of 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m.

The Virtual Precinct will be implemented citywide on Monday, February 6th, based on the successful results of the pilot program at the Northeastern District, which was implemented on January 9, 2012. Before the Virtual Precinct officially is implemented rolls across the city, the Detroit Police Department is taking the necessary steps to ensure that its citizens and visitors are apprised of the police station’s new enhance pre-screening procedures.

Last year (2011), the City of Detroit received about 1.5 million 9-1-1 calls; 4,400 per day. About 80 percent of these calls are police-related.

"We must make better use of public safety resources by only responding to real emergencies," Godbee said.

However, four out of 10 of these calls were hang-ups, prank calls or non-emergency.
We must make better use of public safety resources, only responding to real emergencies.

THE NEW TELEPHONE CRIME REPORTING UNIT (VP) WILL:

• Place more police officers directly on the streets, where they are needed, while working with citizens in our neighborhoods;
• Allow much-improved response times to true emergencies by Police; and
• Improve public safety and customer satisfaction.