April 8-14 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, a chance to appreciate the unsung heroes who serve our communities answering and dispatching 911 calls. #YonkersPD dispatchers manage about 150,000 calls for service annually, making sure Police, Fire, and EMS get to the people who need our help.  Thank you for everything you do! As part of NPST week, please take a moment to review these tips and guidelines when call 9-1-1 (credit: National Emergency Number Association):

When to call:  An emergency is any serious situation where a law enforcement officer, fire fighter or emergency medical help is needed right away. If you are unsure of whether your situation is an emergency, go ahead and call 911.

If you call 911 by mistake, do not hang up the phone: Stay on the line until you can tell the call-taker that you called by accident and there is no emergency. This saves the call-taker from having to call you back and confirm there is no emergency, or possibly sending police to check your address for an emergency.

Do your best to stay calm and answer all questions: The questions 911 call takers ask, no matter how irrelevant they seem, are important in helping get the first responders to you as fast as possible.

Know the location of the emergency: The wireless 911 caller must be aware that the 911 center that answers the call may not be the 911 center that services the area that the wireless caller is calling from. Look for landmarks, cross street signs and buildings. Know the name of the city or county you are in.

Teach your children how to call 911: Be sure they know what 911 is, how to dial from your home and cell phone and to trust the 911 call-taker. Make sure your child is physically able to reach at least one phone in your home. When calling 911 your child needs to know their name, parent’s name, telephone number and, most importantly, their address. Be sure all members of your household are aware that prank or harassing calls to 911 will be dealt with by local law enforcement agencies.

To all the 911 call-takers, thank you for all you do to help make our workplaces and communities safer.

Alert sent on 04/14/2018 at 1:40PM EDT

YPD Dispatcher (PNG)

To submit a tip via text message text YPDinactive and your tip to 847411

Alert delivered to the following groups: Yonkers Police Dept, Yonkers Police - Business Alerts, Yonkers Police - 2nd Precinct, Yonkers Police - 1st Precinct, Yonkers Police - 3rd Precinct, and Yonkers Police - 4th Precinct

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