If there was trouble and you needed help...

This county is larger than the state of Rhode Island: There are two deputies on duty after normal working hours. It will be awhile before deputies show up. Our county sheriff encourages citizens to take care of business.

It its a home invasion or other attack i will call 911 after the crisis is over. If its a non-life threatening problem i will call the sheriffs dispatcher.
 
I live in the Bay Area of California in the suburbs. A true story about some conversations with two City police officers several months ago. One lives in our neighborhood and another is a friend of the family:
Both separately said that if you are in trouble, don’t bother to dial 911 and expect a quick response. They both advised that if there was a life-threatening situation, to ‘take care of it’ ourselves. (!)
Very surprising to hear that from two separate officers in the same city polives department in two separate situations/conversations.

One alternate solution to look into is if your local police have a direct emergency line. Ours does and we now have that number programmed into all our phones. If we dial 911, the call gets routed ~50 miles away, gets re-routed several times and then finally back to our area. (Also confirmed by our city police.) A recent murder 3 homes down (and we live in a good area) took 2 hours from a dial 911 and hang-up until the officers arrived on-scene. 2 Hours later!

So, I would dial the ‘local’ police number first to get a fast response and then perhaps dial 911 to get any ‘recording’ or record of the situation that is necessary.

Being a private pilot, in any emergency, the sequence is:
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate

Meaning, first and foremost – in any emergency – first fly the plane!
Then, figure out where you need to go and lastly, then communicate with any ATC/tower.
I think it’s the same in a home emergency that is a police-type life threatening situation. First, take care of the emergency and know your plan of what needs to be done. Then, communicate when you have time. IF it’s possible to dial 911 during (e.g. a second person available to do so), then yes. But first take care of the emergency.

Just my two cents…

-Mike
 
It its a home invasion or other attack i will call 911 after the crisis is over.
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I would at least attempt to dial 911 while arming up. Drop the phone handset to the floor and then repel attackers is the best bet.
 
Since it took 45 minutes for the sheriff to respond during a perceived home invasion scenario for my wife while I was deployed....:mad:

New plan for my family: arm yourself, dial 911, give quick description to the 911 operator, set the phone down, dial any of a couple close friends on the cell phone who can be there in minutes (of the single-digit variety), respond to threat, keep 911 advised if possible.

Obviously the respond to threat step is a floater, and can go up/down the scale as necessary.

I cannot depend on the local law enforcement to do anything but file the report after the event.

But on the bright side, it got my wife interested enough that she now wants to get a handgun and go through a CCW course! :) Initial testing of some .380s has proven she is just as good with that as a 20 gauge. Guess I better not make her angry or take out too much life insurance on myself! :eek:
 
If I'm in or near the home then I follow globemaster3's plan:
globemaster3 said:
New plan for my family: arm yourself, dial 911, give quick description to the 911 operator, set the phone down, dial any of a couple close friends on the cell phone who can be there in minutes (of the single-digit variety), respond to threat, keep 911 advised if possible.
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If I'm in the fields or woodlot then I'll use my cell to call my spouse, brother or Dad, then 911. It is doubtful LEO would know where to find/help me when I'm afield.

Obviously I'm rural...usually the neighbor or family is the quicker response than either LEO or paramedic.

I've had to use CPR, bandage someone stepped on by a full shod draft horse, shoot a rabid fox, shoot a feral dog, and use the Stihl to clear the roadway of a 100+ year-old maple tree. You just have to be prepared and willing to help at a moments notice around our bend in the crick.
 
My order is:

1) Neighbors
2) 911
3) friends

I live in the country. We're served by the sheriff's department.

I was vague, I mean if there was a non-medical, potentially dangerous situation occurring at your home.

An example -- late one night I was home alone (and just finished watching a murder mystery, great timing), and I heard a man out front yelling "Hey! Hey! HEY!" I put on the alarm, locked the door and opened the window. I asked him what he wanted. I mean, I'm on a ranch, surrounded by ranches, and he drives all the way onto my place? He then asked if he could park here. Getting weirder. I told him to go ahead, and then I called two of my neighbors (one of whom was wondering who was this person going down the road so late). They both loaded up and came by. I got my dog and followed him (mostly because I thought he was drunk, and if he went the wrong way he'd probably get eaten by pigs.) Turns out he was drunk, and had no idea where he was. My neighbors called his wife for him, and then I called the sheriff (not 911) just to report the incident so there would be a record (I didn't mention he was drunk.) There have been other times I called 911, and either a deputy came by an hour later, or (in the case where I reported that someone was firing a gun in the woods on my place, and I didn't know who it was), they never bothered to show up.

I stick with my neighbors.
 
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For trouble where a police response seems like a good idea, it would probably go something like this:

1) Obtain firearm (could be handgun and/or AR15, depending on where I am when threat is noticed); have wife obtain firearm and her phone (could be handgun and/or 870 12ga, depending).

2) Have wife call 911 while I take position near top landing of stairs, to ensure nobody comes up.

For other types of trouble, call 911 and let them sort it out, if situation seems to warrant general emergency response.

Of course, we are not likely to have police response type problems. It's a nice area; neighbors all have a pretty good idea of who the other neighbors are; and we have very loud, reasonably large dogs in the house.

And everybody in our neighborhood hunts and/or shoots recreationally, often.
 
Most home invasions happen very quickly. Do not become obsessed with calling 911. It can get you killed.

i've been through two iterations of home invasions. Both took place before there was a 911 system. In the first home invasion i heard the door kicked in followed immediately by one gunshot. That gunshot was my wife killing the first home invader in the door. The second home invader was shot by me.

As for me: If its a home invasion someone else can call 911; if anyone else is at home.
 
Ya know, I just quizzed my wife...

Me - "Someone's trying to break into the house, whatdayado?"
Wife - "Get armed, then grab the phone to dial 911."

I'd trained her well...

BTW, this is the same advice that several police officers gave during one lecture. Get armed, take care of business if you have to, then call 911. If you can, call 911 after you get armed.

The thing is, you may not have a chance to get armed if you run for the phone and dial 911 first. Seconds, guys...seconds. That's why I carry at home, and no - I'm not paranoid, because there is scum out there wanting my stuff and do harm to my family.
 
Need help? Call your lawyer. :D

Depends on the kind of help you need obviously. Life endangering help, yes call police or an ambulance and then try to deal with it until they arrive.
 
Assuming "trouble" is a home invasion some kind of physical threat, I would:
Be dialing 911 as I retrieve my firearm. You want to get help coming ASAP and if you do need to do anything drastic to defend yourself the legal system will appreciate you getting law enforcement involved early on.
 
I live alone in a very rural area. Sheriff is hours away, 2 days one time when I reported a stolen car, not priority I guess. Always have a gun on me. If I can't handle it, I'm in big trouble.:eek:
 
Some 25 years ago I lived in a trailer park next to a meth freak. He actually carried a pistol on his hip around the park. He was a dirt bag who had friends that would inject drugs and then throw the used syringes on my roof. He was always in trouble with the police but he continued to live there. It was like he could do no wrong.

One Sunday afternoon I heard what I thought was fireworks. It only took a second for me to realize that what I was hearing was the reports from a shotgun. His girlfriend's car was parked next to my living room window. There was barely three inches between her car and my house. He was shooting the car up. Tires, windows, lights, everything. I retrieved my .45 and called 911. The operator said that police were responding. I told the operator that if he pointed that shotgun in my direction I was going to empty the magazine in his direction. Surprisingly, she didn't tell me not to do that. As it was I didn't have to. The cops showed up and he surrendered without a fight.
 
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