Official 911 guidance legitimizes nearly any call as an emergency

Evidence

While fraudulent calls are penalized with fees and even possible jail time, such punishments only apply to egregious cases, where it is clear that the caller was far from being in an emergency situation (Brouhard, 2018). The rather relaxed nature of how these laws are enforced is emphasized in the guidelines provided for calling 911. Indeed, the United States Emergency Assistance website states that “if you’re not sure whether the situation is a true emergency, officials recommend calling 911 and letting the call-taker determine whether you need emergency help,” thus legitimizing almost any type of call (National 911 Program, n.d.). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 268

Categorization

• SEED: Article angle: the official ‘when in doubt, call’ policy as a formalized substitute for civilian judgment, and its downstream consequences for police dispatch and racial bias.
• ADDENDUM: Directly supports the mechanics behind how biased civilian calls reach police in the bias-infrastructure story; ties into how institutions (here 911 centers) inherit and amplify individual bias.