ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta has just launched a brand new non-emergency hotline after new data revealed that just 3% of 911 calls within the city last year were true emergencies.
City officials said the new communication system is needed after such a small percentage of its 1.35 million "emergency" calls were actually urgent in 2023. The number of calls last year was up 14% compared to 2022. Only 45,000 of the calls were true emergencies, according to Desiree Arnold, executive director of Atlanta E-911.
Atlanta Police Department posted several calls on social media that showed examples of the truly bizarre 911 calls it received last year -- ones you have to truly hear to believe. Here are what just a few looked like:
What time is it?
DISPATCH: "This is Atlanta 911, what's the address of your emergency?
CALLER: "Um, I want to know what time it is."
DISPATCH: "You said what time it is?"
CALLER: "Yes."
DISPATCH: "OK, it's 10:38 in the morning. Do you have an emergency?"
CALLER: "10:38?" OK. And what the date is?"
Don't make this call in the Peach State
"DISPATCH: "Atlanta 911 operator, what's the address of your emergency?"
CALLER: "I came into a cafe and asked for a peach smoothie, and I don't know what that was, but it's not a peach smoothie. I'm from Atlanta, I know what peach tastes like."
DISPATCH: "So, what did you want the police officers to do?"
CALLER: "I want them to get my money back for my smoothie."
911 isn't pest control
CALLER: "I understand 911 is here to protect and to serve other people, but I need help and it ain't no people person matter, it's with a spider."
DISPATCH: "It's with a spider?"
CALLER: "Yeah! I tried to call the exterminator but they charging!"
DISPATCH: "Ma'am, the police cannot come out for a spider."
As you can see from the calls above, requests like those are tying up 911 operators who could be using their time helping callers with actual emergencies.
"Their intent when they come to work is to save a life. That's what we're here for," Arnold said. "And when we get saddled with a lot of non-emergency calls, it makes it more difficult for us to be able to answer those 911 calls."
The new non-emergency online platform is accessible 24/7. You can make a report and also make a request for dispatch. You can visit the link on the City of Atlanta's website here.
As a reminder: Call 911 when someone's life, property or health is in immediate danger. For everything else -- use the portal.