05/30/2026
I CALLED THE POLICE HOURS AGO. WHERE ARE THEY?
This is one of the questions we receive most often. So just how long should it take to get a police response? There is no correct answer to this question as the response time is based on various factors. The main factors are the availability of officers in a geographic area and the priority level of the request. Let’s explain this in more detail.
When you call 9-1-1, the operator obtains certain information from you so that a Nature Code can be assigned to the request for police service. Examples of nature codes are Burglary in Progress, Domestic Incident, Disturbance Business and Illegal Parking. There are approximately a hundred different nature codes and determining the most appropriate nature code can be like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Each nature code has a preassigned priority level ranging from 1 to 6, with Priority 1 being the highest and Priority 6 the lowest.
Calls for police service are assigned by priority level within a geographic area. For example, a Robbery in Progress call will be answered before a Disorderly Crowd. The amount of time it takes police to respond to a specific call is based on the priority level of that call, the availability of officers in a geographic area, the number of other calls pending and the priority level of those other calls. During slow times it is not uncommon for even a low priority call to be responded to in just a few minutes, but during busier times it is common for even higher priority calls to take some time. True emergency calls are usually responded to promptly. Even if no officers are available in a specific zone, officers will be sent from surrounding zones in a true emergency. Otherwise, the job will be held until an officer is available. Once an officer becomes available, the highest priority call in that zone will be responded to. Again, during busy times, a low priority job can sit for a prolonged period of time as higher priority calls come in and must be handled first.
So how you can assure the quickest response possible? First and foremost, provide accurate and detailed information to the 9-1-1 operator. Let’s assume there is a fight taking place on the street outside your house. Based solely on this information, the call would be classified as a Disturbance Highway Fight, a Priority 3 assignment. But suppose someone is injured in this fight and needs emergency medical attention. This now also becomes a Hospital Case, a Priority 2 assignment. Now let’s assume that someone involved in the fight has pulled out a knife. This now becomes a Person with a Weapon, a Priority 1 assignment, a true emergency. Providing this detailed information will result in a quicker response (never lie to get a quicker response as this puts lives in danger, including those of responding officers). The second thing you should do is to call back periodically if you are still awaiting a response. If a call is pending for four hours with no response due to lack of availability and there have been no repeat calls, the job may be dumped and there will be no police response. Otherwise, every call is eventually responded to, so be patient and call back periodically, especially if the circumstances have changed.
We hope this information has helped you to better understand how police respond to 9-1-1 calls.
