New Emergency Number for Arkansas State Police.

[US71]

Arkansas State Police have a new Emergency Number.  Until recently, road signs have advertised *55 as their emergency number.  I discovered over the weekend the new number is *ASP. 

I have no idea when this was changed, but appears to be relatively recent, but I have no idea.

[US71]

https://katv.com/news/local/asp-cell-phone

[oscar]

Actually, the article says the new number is a non-emergency number. Motorists can still use 911 for emergencies, though whether they'll use that rather than the new non-emergency number remains to be seen. The sign shown in the article isn't clear on what number should be called for emergencies.

I hope that a call to the non-emergency number will draw an emergency response when needed, or even if it isn't. When my car was broken into at night, I called the non-emergency number for the county police. Within minutes, a half-dozen police cars lit up my neighborhood as they converged on my car. (But no charges were filed, even though one of the cops pulled a clear hand print on an item the thief didn't steal.)

[jeffandnicole]

Always call 911 in an emergency. I don't know why police agencies even try to use another emergency number. If you're in an emergency, especially when you may not be thinking clearly and time is of the essence, are you going to try to remember what special number with a pound or star in front or after the number you're going to call...or just call the number that works throughout the country and has been engrained into our mindset for decades?

[US71]

Always call 911 in an emergency. I don't know why police agencies even try to use another emergency number. If you're in an emergency, especially when you may not be thinking clearly and time is of the essence, are you going to try to remember what special number with a pound or star in front or after the number you're going to call...or just call the number that works throughout the country and has been engrained into our mindset for decades?

To my knowledge, some states don't use 911 at all.

[bwana39]

Does every state have 911?
It's universal across the entire US (and Canada since both countries use the same telephone switching system). It is not only universally used in every state and across 97% of the geographical United States, but 911 is also universal regardless of the type of emergency.

As to the *55 or *LSP, *ASP. etc

Is it an EMERGENCY Number or a quick contact number? They are different.

[J N Winkler]

Could it be a question of the call landing promptly in the correct dispatcher's office?  We have called one of these non-911 numbers just once--on the Kansas Turnpike soon after being passed by someone who was fouling the lane line and thus presumably either drunk or drowsy--and the person on the other end of the line clearly had up-to-the-minute information as to the location of the nearest state trooper.  I'm not sure this would have been the case if the call had landed with a county-run 911 center.