It is the Middleton Police Department's policy that community
members should call whenever they see anything that makes them feel uneasy
or they believe they have discovered a crime. Incidents ranging from a crime
in progress, to a suspicious person, to an open door, can and should be
reported.
In order to help serve the public, the Communications
Center asks that you use the 911 Emergency Line when
there is an immediate risk to life or property. Some examples of
times when it is appropriate to dial 911 are:
Any medical emergency
In progress or just occurred crimes
Any crime involving weapons (guns, knives, clubs)
Domestic violence, in-progress or threatened
Any vehicle accident involving injuries
Anytime a suspect is still in or near the area
When you call 9-1-1:
To help the dispatcher get your call and to provide the
responding officer with the information they need, everyone is asked a
standard set of questions. Your dispatcher will need to know:
1:Location
of the problem. Even though your landline telephone number and
address should be shown on the 911 data screen when you call, we will need
to confirm that the address is correct. Also you may be calling from
a location that is different from the address that you are calling about.
BE SURE TO GIVE YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER AND EXTENSION TO THE DISPATCHER.
Important Note: If you are calling 9-1-1 from
a cellular phone, your call may be routed to the Dane
County Communications Center. You must advise the Dane
County Communications Dispatcher of your location and the type of
emergency so that your call may be re-routed to the proper 9-1-1 agency.
2:Type
of problem. The Dispatcher will need to know if you are
reporting an emergency or something that is not an emergency. You
will be asked for the basic description of what occurred and, if
applicable:
When the incident happened
A description of the suspect, including clothing
Whether a weapon was involved and, if so, what type
A description and direction of travel of a vehicle if one was involved
3: Give the
Dispatcher all of the information available to you. Do
not leave out information because you don't think that it is important. The more we know about an incident, the more effective we can be in
helping you.
4:If
you call 9-1-1 by mistake DO NOT HANG UP! Tell the
dispatcher that you called by mistake and that you do not have an
emergency. Most of the time the Dispatcher will send an officer to
your address just to make sure everything is okay. Any time a
Dispatcher receives a 9-1-1 "hang up," the caller must be
contacted to be sure that no actual emergency exists.
5:If a
person does not speak English the 9-1-1 system allows calls to
be transferred to an interpreter who can translate many different
languages.
6:If a
person is using a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf(TDD) the
phone number for the TDD Equipment is (608)824-7300, this call will be handled with the TDD Equipment. If you do call
9-1-1, the TDD Equipment will also be used so that you may communicate with a
Dispatcher. The Dispatcher will require the same information
as listed in 1 through 4 above.
If you are calling to report a crime that has already
occurred, or to ask a question, please call the Non-Emergency number of
(608) 824-7300. This direct number to the dispatch center is
available 24 hours a day to handle calls for the Police Department, Fire
Department and Emergency Medical Services.
