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Guidelines for Calling 911

911 is for emergencies only. 911 Dispatchers answer both 911 calls as well as general or business calls made to the Cambridge Police and Cambridge Fire business numbers (617-349-3300 for Police and 617-349-4900 for Fire) as well as other public safety non-911 numbers. Reserving 911 for emergencies enables 911 dispatchers to easily recognize and give highest priority to emergency callers while still being able to receive and promptly answer calls for service or non-emergency calls. TTY is available 24/7 by dialing 9-1-1 or calling 617-499-9924.

Here are examples of emergencies:

  • Life Threatening Situations
  • Fires
  • Motor Vehicle Accidents with injuries or that cause major traffic and street obstructions
  • Injuries requiring emergency medical attention
  • Hazardous chemical spills
  • Fire, smoke or carbon monoxide detectors sounding
  • Burglar alarms
  • Sparking electrical hazards
  • Smoke in a building
  • Any other potentially life-threatening EMERGENCY
If for some reason you do not feel comfortable calling 9-1-1, you may call 617-499-9924. This line is able to handle both voice and TTY calls.

 

Tips and FAQs

When a person dials 911 and hangs up either before the line is answered or before the 911 operator is able to determine the nature of the call, information is displayed on an Automatic Location Identifier screen. The information displayed is the name, address,  phone number, and any disability indicators of the telephone subscriber. This information is displayed on all calls to 911, even if the person has caller-id blocking. 


The 911 Operator will attempt to call back the phone number and determine the nature of the problem. If the operator is unable to make contact with a person on the phone or feels that there is a problem then a police unit will be dispatched to investigate the hang-up call.

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