Add non-emergency hotline for PD.

[Tacoface173]

I feel like as a LEO we get flooded with calls about impound and other stuff that are not emergency's. I think adding a 311 line would help a bit with keeping the over flow of non emergency calls. +1 if you agree!

[KaetoKit]

+1

[Jim Buckridge]

+10

[Ed Johnston]

Huge plus one from me.

[AtlasOLimbo]

Things like investigation/crime report updates, impound support requests, general inquiries so on, are needlessly difficult to make. Even if you clearly state it's non an emergency in your 911 call you have a 90% chance of getting cited even though there is no option for a non-emergency call. 

[Buggs]

+1

Yes, yes, and very much so yes. It has been needed for the longest. Most cities IRL have this thing.

[inorigj]

+1

Should also make the 911 ask if you need a location updating call.

so if someone is chasing you. and you make a 911 call. it will track your location like PD's Backup and panic button icons. showing PD/SD where you are every 2 seconds, instead of just sending them to the location you made the 911 call.

Edited April 12, 2023 by inorigj

[Buggs]

24 minutes ago, inorigj said:

Should also make the 911 ask if you need a location updating call.

Yes! Like if you call back within the 5 min window, then they should say "do you have an update on the situation?" and then go based off of whatever you typed.

[UseroneGaming]

In real life, the police department has two ways to contact them: 911 is the emergency hotline, and then another number (311/991/etc.) for non-emergency inquiries. I think Eclipse RP could benefit from such a hotline in the following situations:

• Reporting suspicious activity that doesn't technically constitute crime or emergency.
• Trying to reach a specific officer to resolve a non-emergency dispute.
• Criminal records request.

Currently, the only way to do so is to call 911, which technically violates the statue of San Andreas Penal Code: GC05 - Misuse of Government Public Safety Radio Frequencies or Hotlines. I think adding a non-emergency hotlines for PD, FD, MD and government would be beneficial.

[Mikazuki Ueno]

There are several ways to report suspicious activity, contact a specific officer, and request criminal records, all of which do not require a phone call. The government website and physical locations for LEOs offer numerous opportunities.

Do not call 911 unless it is an emergency. If it's a mistake, it's considered misuse; if you intentionally do it, you'll likely be charged and jailed.

[CharlesXiao]

5 hours ago, UseroneGaming said:

I think adding a non-emergency hotlines for PD, FD, MD and government would be beneficial.

Until this is added, if you include "NON-EMERGENCY" in front of whatever you type after calling 911 it works as the same. Unless Carter is on then he'll add a ticket to your record. Other than that typically this works, I often do this when no mechanics are on and I need a cop to help flip my car : D

 

Otherwise W suggestion +1

Edited July 18, 2025 by CharlesXiao

[Mikazuki Ueno]

If you include "NON-EMERGENCY" in front of whatever you type after calling 911 it is highly likely your call will just be closed right away, usually before I have a chance to do anything. Feel free to take a chance, but I am not the only one who charges for it. Good luck.

[Demonmit1]

The same system doc gets for ringing for a guard at the front desk would be nice to have for the stations. Solves the 911 non emergency call, and the system is already in game

[Kon]

On 7/19/2025 at 2:56 PM, Mikazuki Ueno said:

If you include "NON-EMERGENCY" in front of whatever you type after calling 911 it is highly likely your call will just be closed right away,

exactly why the suggestion is a good one, and no, going to a station and hoping there is someone there within the first hour you wait is not the answer HAHHAHAHA

[UseroneGaming]

On 7/18/2025 at 7:57 PM, Mikazuki Ueno said:

There are several ways to report suspicious activity, contact a specific officer, and request criminal records, all of which do not require a phone call. The government website and physical locations for LEOs offer numerous opportunities.

Let me get this straight, your alternative to calling a non-emergency hotline for PD to report suspicious activity, contact an officer to resolve a non-emergency dispute and request criminal records is to e-mail (aka. send a forum message)?

For criminal records, I can understand that. The LSPD "website" (forum page on gov.eclipse-rp.net) does feature a "Background Check Request" form, just for this feature. That is good.

However, for reporting non-criminal suspicious activity, it wouldn't make much sense to make an e-mail about it with date, time and location of the incident; because, by the time the e-mail gets read, the suspicious activity is already over for hours if not days.

Meanwhile, for contacting an officer regarding a non-emergency dispute, I agree that the technically correct way of handling this would be through an Internal Affairs report. However, those can also be expected to take a week or longer. Sometimes, the issues in question, while not necessarily imminent life-threatening emergencies, are still in need of urgent resolution: for example, if a law enforcement officer refuses to call a supervisor when requested.

Furthermore, people are unjustly decentivized from calling 911 to report non-emergency issues, because as you put it:

On 7/18/2025 at 7:57 PM, Mikazuki Ueno said:

Do not call 911 unless it is an emergency. If it's a mistake, it's considered misuse; if you intentionally do it, you'll likely be charged and jailed.

A non-emergency hotline would alleviate these issues.

[Quietthecutie]

When i first read this it sounded reasonable. But on second thoughts, 9/10 calls would be "i am at parking come get my car out."

Theres a reason why you get jailed for misuse of gov hotlines, and its not a RP issue but a practical one. During peak times its already hard to track all the calls coming in, throwing in non emergency calls would only spam the teeny tiny textbox more.

Sadly Practicality superceedes realisim every time.

[Mikazuki Ueno]

1 hour ago, UseroneGaming said:

Let me get this straight, your alternative to calling a non-emergency hotline for PD to report suspicious activity, contact an officer to resolve a non-emergency dispute and request criminal records is to e-mail (aka. send a forum message)?

No, I also said physical locations, like going up to an officer/deputy or to their man buildings.

911 and the script are for imminent life-threatening emergencies.

[SquirtleSquad]

I can see a ton of reasons for needing a Non-Emergency line

• Needing your stuff from MRPD/Sandy/Paleto
• Reporting a dead body (that's not an imminent life-threatening emergency)
• Requesting a medic or an Officer for questions
• Yes, requesting a unit to impound (When I was in PD, the requests would get lost between backup calls from both PD/SD/GOV, however note that my experience is from over a year ago)

These are just some examples in which if you were to use this with the current 911 would either; get ignored, get forgotten, fall to the lowest priority, get closed without follow up, end up getting you a citation. I will say on my crim there have been times I've been to one of the stations and there's no one there. Waiting around for a unit to come by, and if your a text talker, a lot of time people aren't looking in the top left corner of the screen for someone trying to get their attention. 

While I can see that there would be people who could/would troll this non-emergency line, that's why a Penal Code exists to resolve that.

I'll always +1 this idea.

[Eliza]

@UseroneGaming @AtlasOLimbo I have merged your suggestions onto this thread as they are both suggesting the same thing, and are duplicates of this thread

[Juicay]

Massive +1 to this!

I’ve wanted and needed this for years both from playing PD and from playing criminal long-term across the server. A non-emergency hotline is something that realistically should already exist.

Not every situation warrants a full 911 lights-and-sirens response sometimes you just need to:

• Report a stolen vehicle without triggering a priority dispatch

• Report suspicious activity that isn’t actively dangerous

• Ask about impounds, reports, or follow-ups

• Coordinate after or during an incident without escalating it

• Call PD and MD when injured but not in immediate life-threatening danger

From an RP perspective, this adds depth and structure. It separates actual emergencies from administrative or minor reports, making dispatch feel more realistic and professional instead of everything being treated as high priority. It also doesn’t even need to spam chat or create instant alerts. It could simply log into the MD/PD MDC and sit there until an officer reviews it when available. No annoyance, no forced response just a non-emergency report that is easy to handle and isn't annoying.

That way:

• It doesn’t flood the chat

• It doesn’t interrupt active scenes

• It still generates follow-up RP

• It improves realism without adding annoyance

For PD players, it reduces unnecessary priority call spam.
For civilians/criminals, it gives a more natural way to initiate RP without instantly escalating the situation.

Simple concept, big quality-of-life and realism improvement for the server overall.