When they found themselves unable to contain the excitement surrounding some of the absurd calls for service they were receiving, the 911 call center in Washington County, Oregon developed a social media campaign that highlighted the calls and the work that was being done by the call center.

Though we rarely highlight the less flattering portion of their work, the Knowledge Network does a lot to highlight the beneficial work of the great services that municipalities provide to account for public safety.

• Read “City of Hartford Connects with 311” to learn how the city of Hartford is effectively using their 311 system to help both community members and local government employees.  
• “Minneapolis 311 System” illustrates the marketing campaign that the local government used to create awareness for their 311 system after it was rolled out.
• Review “Rescuing 911:311 Service Proves Invaluable in Emergencies” to discover how to alleviate some of the strain of non-emergency calls on your 911 line.
• Find out how a 311 call system can help your local government’s 911 calls drop by over 40% in “More U.S. Local Governments Turning to 311 Call Systems; 911 Calls Drop Sharply with 311 Use, Survey Shows.”
• “COPS Fact Sheet: 311 for Non-Emergencies Helping Communities One Call at a Time” was prepared by the Department of Justice, Office of Community Orientated Policing Services to show how 311 call systems can ease overburdened 911 systems.

Did you learn anything new reading through these resources? Have documents that highlight the great work happening with your local emergency call centers? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.  If you would like to learn more about 311 and 911 services, be sure to head to the 311/CRM Systems, Public Safety, and Telecommunications topic pages. 

Aloha,

James Davidson

ICMA Knowledge Network Intern

jdavidson@icma.org