I do all I can to clear up misconceptions among folks about what we do in the media – be they grand or simple.
One thing I think many presume/assume is that if we hear something wild on scanner or are made aware of police converging on some spot or another, that we have some special hotline to gather the details.
Granted, there are some agencies with public information officers, but not all — and they aren’t always on duty, and they don’t always know what’s going on, either.
So we do have the non-emergency dispatch numbers for each county – in Deschutes, that’s 541-693-6911 (then hit 5).
Sure, you can drop us a note on Facebook or at stories@ktvz.com – but at 3 a.m., for example, that’s not going to bring a rapid-fire response.
Listening to a scanner all day, we can hear folks who call 911 for the most inane reasons — kids being rude, etc.
And I’m sure many contact us instead of them because they don’t want to bother busy dispatchers or misuse 911.
But what I tell people is, 9 times out of 10, what they tell you on the phone if you call the non-emergency number is what they’ll tell us — and it also eliminates the middle-man and speeds things up, to your benefit — and sometimes ours, too..
Because then, if you learn what’s going on is important — you can tell us and make sure we know! We appreciate that!
Yes, some times when it’s busy, the 911 folks will put you on hold for emergency calls. You’d want and expect that.
And also, some times they won’t tell you or us what’s going on, for tactical, confidentiality or other reasons. But we have no special hotline, no special “in” with police to learn what they can share.
And to learn something was “just” a medical call (not that that’s not sad for whoever’s involved) can let you go back to sleep without worry.
Want us to check on it? Great, no problem. But just wanted to make sure you knew there’s another way.
Leave it to Barney 