Why police number is 911

Congress agreed to support as the emergency number standard for the nation and passed legislation making the exclusive number for any emergency calling service. A central office was set up by the Bell System to develop the infrastructure for the system. On Feb. The Alabama Telephone Company carried the call. A week later, Nome, Alaska, implemented a system.

In , the White House's Office of Telecommunication issued a national statement supporting the use of and pushed for the establishment of a Federal Information Center to assist government agencies in implementing the system. After its initial acceptance in the late s, systems quickly spread across the country. By , about 26 percent of the United States population had service, and nine states had passed legislation for a statewide system.

Through the latter part of the s, service grew at a rate of 70 new local systems per year, according to the NENA. Approximately 50 percent of the U. By , about 95 percent of the U. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. But did you ever stop to wonder why is the number for emergencies in the U. In fact, it's a fairly recent development.

Up until , the United States was still using hundreds of seven-digit emergency telephone numbers across the country. In fact, some states , like Nebraska, had more than different ambulance service numbers alone.

The first stepping stone for the universal emergency number came in , when the National Association of Fire Chiefs recommended one single number for fire reports. And then, a decade later in , the President Lyndon Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended a single number for all emergency situations at large.

But why those three numbers? Second, because it is a unique number, never having been authorized as an office code, area code or service code, it best met the long range numbering plans and switching configurations of the telephone industry. A week later, according to NENA, Nome, Alaska, implemented the service and by the end of , the service extended to about 50 percent of the United States' population.

Wireless or cellular calls do not provide address information. Fayette County is equipped with a next generation state of the art system. Calendar Quick Links Search. History of What is ? How did the idea develop? Top Introduction in the United States In January of , the American Telephone and Telegraph Company announced that within its serving areas the digits were available for installation on a national scale as the single emergency telephone number.