The 852-COPS line is a phone number which will free up
911 for True Emergencies and Allow Citizens to File Quality-of-Life
Complaints with the Police Department for Follow-Up

The new service will free up 911 lines and operators for true emergencies, yet
still provide citizens with an avenue for calling police about loud parties, barking dogs and other non-life-threatening situations. While it is essential that 911 only be used for true emergencies, it is also important that citizens have an avenue to report their non-emergency complaints to the Police.

The County was able to secure $1 million in federal funding for the establishment of this sorely needed non-emergency communication system and now the nearly 1.5 million residents of Suffolk will benefit in a very real way. This will free up the 911 emergency response system to better respond to real crises and create a new resource for quality of life issues.

In 2005, the SCPD handled 1,328,185 calls on 911. National studies estimate that 17% of 911 calls are considered "non-emergency". This translates to approximately 225,000 calls taken off the 911 system.

Suffolk has an outstanding call answering time, with 94% of our 911 calls answered in under ten seconds, and 85% answered in under six seconds, In an emergency, every second counts, and we believe that 852-COPS will serve to improve this response time even further.

The 852-COPS (852-2677) became active at noon Thursday, June 1, 2006 with five new Emergency Complaint Operators recently added to accommodate the implementation of the non-emergency line. Operators on the 852-COPS system will also serve as back up if the 911 line becomes inundated. Callers to the system are prompted to identify if they are from one of the five western towns (Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip or Smithtown) which are served by the Suffolk County Police Department, or the five eastern towns (East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton or Southold) which are served by town or village police departments. Calls from the western towns in Suffolk will be documented and the information referred to one of Suffolk’s seven precincts. Calls from the five eastern towns will be transferred to their appropriate town or village police department.