City Chat Highlights - City of Ocean Shores Police Chief

• EMERGENCY – Dial 911 (recorded line)

Examples: If someone needs emergency medical attention or Crimes in progress (you are a victim of assault that just occurred or is occurring; you are witnessing an assault, burglary, vandalism)

• Non-Emergency – Dial 360.533.8765 (recorded line)

Examples: If you need police assistance where an urgent response is not needed (Crimes that occurred hours or days ago, crimes where there is no suspect information or the suspect is no longer on scene, code complaints, camping violations, etc.)

• For all 911 calls you will be asked for the location of the emergency, the phone number you are calling from and the nature of your emergency.

• Once the nature of the emergency is established, the dispatcher will ask you questions pertaining to the emergency and may give pre-arrival instructions in the case of a medical emergency.

• In circumstances where a caller is worried about retaliation, request to remain anonymous.

• The Police Department front desk personnel are not commissioned officers or trained dispatch operators. If a crime needs to be reported, office staff will direct citizen to the phone stationed in the Police Department lobby that connects a citizen with Grays Harbor Communication Dispatcher’s non-emergency number line. If a citizen calls the Police Department to report a crime or emergency they will be transferred to Grays Harbor Communication Dispatch.

• If a citizen needs to report a crime at the Police Departments location and the lobby is closed, there is a phone station outside that connects directly to Grays Harbor Communication Dispatch emergency line.

• Many times, citizens will witness a crime being committed or a medical emergency in progress while surround by other individuals of the city and assume someone is calling the authorities, however that is not always the case. Other members of the community are assuming the same thing which results in no one calling 911 which lessens the response time of the Ocean Shores Police Department. If you see a crime or medical emergency in progress report it to 911 immediately, this gets officers and EMS to the scene faster.

• Grays Harbor Communication Dispatch is located in Aberdeen, Washington. This entity dispatches all Police, Fire and EMS calls for all of Grays Harbor County. The Grays Harbor Communication Dispatchers answer both 911 and non-emergency phone calls and prioritize them to responding agencies.

To view the video please click here. Courtesy of North Beach Community TV