Any citizen in the United States can mobilize the local police by dialing 911. Since their introduction 35 years ago, 911 emergency call systems have revolutionized emergency response, especially for police services. However, many 911 systems have become severely over- loaded with nonemergency calls.1 By the mid-1990s, a national movement was under way to implement a universal number to reduce nonemergency calls to 911 call systems. In 1997, the Federal Communications Commission designated 311 as the national nonemergency phone number.