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Council approves funding for 911 nonemergency outreach as interim step toward 311
Summary
City and LAPD officials described an ongoing public education campaign to direct nonemergency calls away from 911 and toward a separate LAPD nonemergency number as the city moves toward a future 311 system. The council approved the funding appropriation to cover previously contracted outreach work.
The Los Angeles City Council approved funding to cover public outreach and advertising tied to directing nonemergency calls away from 911 while the city develops a 311 nonemergency system.
Council members questioned why they had not seen campaign materials earlier and asked about language access and performance metrics. Police and communications staff said the public education campaign began with a kickoff on Aug. 23, radio spots started Aug. 21, 180 community billboards went up Sept. 11, and transit advertising (about 1,500 bus posters) began Sept. 7. The outreach also includes 50,000 posters, 700,000 magnets and partnerships with community media and businesses.
A police communications representative said the city had received roughly 19,000 calls to the LAPD nonemergency line in July and was close to 40,000 calls in the most recent period; overall call volume to public safety dispatch centers has risen sharply year to date. "The number itself has been up since July '99, but the public relations program only started August," the LAPD representative said. Staff said approximately $200,000 of the contract work had already been delivered; the council action funded contracted work that had been approved previously but not appropriated.
Councilmembers asked about Spanish‑language access; police staff said the system includes an interactive voice response (IVR) with Spanish and TDD capability and that roughly half of the campaign materials were in Spanish. The council approved the request by recorded tally of 10 ayes.
Councilmembers asked staff to coordinate more with schools and community partners on outreach and to report on call‑volume metrics and impacts on 911 traffic as the campaign continues.
