911, What is your emergency?

https://pixabay.com/en/gunshot-muzzle-pistol-weapon-1632387/
Dallas, Texas
March 11, 2018 8:05pm CST
I am calling to report gun shots, about 10 in a row, east of our house, about a block away or less. Did you hear any screaming? No. I heard 10 consecutive gun shots. I am in my house. I could hear it coming from somewhere about half a block or so from the house towards the East. They know it's just a local loco who is probably drunk and wants to wake the neighborhood up so they get their gun out and stand out on their front porch and fire up in the air in rapid succession so they can get a rise out of everyone. It's so pathetic. I always call in shots fired almost within half a minute when I hear it because if I do this, and maybe someone else does within hearing distance of the shots, maybe the police can triangulate on the shooter so as to get a better idea as to the exact origin of the gun fire. I know it's guns. I know it because I live in Dallas and hear this type of thing during holidays like the 4th of July and New Year's Eve near midnight. I also know it because I live in a neighborhood full of drunk people and they seem to love shooting off guns, drinking beer and making noise late at night. What if, for instance, I did not call 911? What if I let it go and act like nothing mattered? Well, I would be just like the rest of them and I don't want to be like the rest of them. I want to be that one voice of reason in a chaotic city, where the police can at least know that one concerned person who lives in that city is opposed to the action of rapid gunfire in a residential zone where flying bullets can penetrate the roof and a person's skull. So they asked me my name and telephone number. Why do I get so emotional? It is because I can remember a time when this sort of thing was not the new normal but you would only hear a gun go off once in a blue moon, and now it's as if this type of activity happens like it was scheduled to go off at a certain time, like a Sunday night at around 8 PM. It is unfortunate, however, that I actually feel like it might be just a waste of my time to report it because the fact is this thing has become so regular that the police probably would rather chock it off as just another annoyance. Basically, they like to deal with more serious things I am sure, like homicides and auto accidents and stuff. But on the other hand, they encourage us to call 911 to report gunfire. So seems like a thing that if you do call they think you are being overly emotional and such or if you don't call, it might be because you don't mind hearing guns shot off at night at random. But any rational person would think that to report shots fired is a way to get the shooter found and perhaps even given a citation so they will think twice before doing so again and putting the people in this neighborhood at risk!
8 people like this
7 responses
@marguicha (215403)
• Chile
12 Mar 18
I have only seen 911 calls and answers on TV. And I think that 911 people should know where the call comes from without having to ask so many questions. If there was a bad guy in my home, I would not be able to explain exactly where I live or what is happening.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (215403)
• Chile
12 Mar 18
@lookatdesktop They should accept the idea of some pranks. But if they ask too much, that can mean danger for the one who is calling.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
@marguicha , That is pretty scary to think about.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
A good point. I actually think they ask these questions just to make certain it is not a prank call. But I mean when I call 911, it is because I feel the police need to be informed of a crime and I think that gunshots being fired in my neighborhood is a crime so I call and report it ASAP.
1 person likes this
@NJChicaa (115992)
• United States
12 Mar 18
Isn't this sort of thing allowed in Texas?
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
Not within city limits.
2 people like this
@NJChicaa (115992)
• United States
12 Mar 18
2 people like this
@freak369 (5113)
• United States
12 Mar 18
That's why I turn on Rdio Reference when I hear sirens - I can get the scoop on what is going on and see how close it is to me. The scary thing is when you hear and address come over the air and it's within a block or two and you don't hear sirens. How many other calls are handled with radio silence?
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
I am inclined to consider buying a new hand held trunking multi-scanner for police and emergency calls to keep tabs on my area where law enforcement is taking place near my neighborhood. But such scanners cost upwards of 200 bucks or more to start off.
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
12 Mar 18
The police should get this sorted out.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
Dallas is a high crime city. There are constantly being crimes committed on a day and nightly basis. Such crimes as home invasions, assault, murder, vandalism . You name it, it all happens under the watchful eyes of law enforcement, because there just ain't enough man power to go around in this big city and the population continues to double and triple in a few years lately.
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
12 Mar 18
I agree on calling! You truely dont know. Unless you live in farm country then i would be calling.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
Well, in a farm country people shoot those animals that hurt their livestock and that is justified. And farm houses are spaced way apart from each other I would think. I have driven through Montana and seen farms with one farm house and a barn with over 500 acres of land just used to farm on and no other houses at all, and have seen many nice farms up in Michigan state.
@aureliah (24319)
• Kenya
12 Mar 18
It’s good that you reported. Here in Kenya we are not used to such and I thank God for that.
1 person likes this
• Dallas, Texas
12 Mar 18
Good to hear it.
1 person likes this
@cintol (11261)
• United States
15 Mar 18
We live in Sherman North of Dallas and we don't hear anything like that. You would think though that they would be more interested as those bullets go up, they are going to come down.