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Q&A
Text-to-911 awareness and usage in New York City
0:35:23
·
69 sec
Council Member Erik D. Bottcher raises concerns about New Yorkers' awareness of the text-to-911 option and confusion about when to use it. Deputy Commissioner Robert Barbera explains the 'call if you can, text if you can't' campaign.
- Many New Yorkers are unaware that texting 911 is an option
- There's confusion about whether to call or text 911
- The city's campaign advises calling unless texting is necessary
Erik D. Bottcher
0:35:23
Hi.
0:35:25
I find in my experience that a lot of New Yorkers don't know that texting 911 is an option.
0:35:32
They still don't know that that option exists.
0:35:35
And among the New Yorkers who do know about it, there seems to be confusion about whether they should text 911 or call 911.
0:35:47
On the city website, it says, don't call don't text 911 unless you need to.
0:35:56
You you should call unless you need to call unless you need to text.
0:36:02
Could you clear that up for us?
Robert Barbera
0:36:05
I believe that the the reference I you're making is, call if you can, text if you can't, which is the the campaign that was utilized, very similar to the same the campaign that's used in other municipalities.
0:36:22
A voice call is faster in processing generally than a text call, so we advise most people to make the voice call if they can.
0:36:29
But for some reason, if they're unable to, to text 911.