The Baltimore Police Department (BPD), working in cooperation
with
AT&T and the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services
(COPS), launched the nation’s first three-digit, non-emergency system
on October 2,
1996 to test AT&T’s technology. After six months, the project was
deemed an
overwhelming success by the Baltimore police. The BPD believes that the three-digit
non-emergency system has significantly enhanced the overall efficiency of
the city’s
911 emergency system.
AT&T selected Baltimore as the pilot site of the AT&T 311
Service because of the company’s close work with the department on other
law
enforcement initiatives. Also, the BPD’s diverse population and innovative
community
policing initiatives made it an ideal test case.
Results after the first six months showed:
- reduced calls to 911.
- reduced answer time.
- reduced busy signals.
- reduced hang-ups.
- reduced numbers of callers receiving recorded
messages.
The BPD attributes a 15 percent drop in crime in the first
quarter of
1997 in part to the AT&T 311 Service, which gave police the ability to
pro-actively
fight crime.
The two main concerns of a 311 service, confusion and
cost, have also
been proven false. There has been no evidence of confusion by the public
as to when and
how to use 311 versus 911. Over one-third of calls to the Baltimore police
each day are
handled by 311.