Responsibility for the 911 emergency dispatch system was transferred from the fire department to the police department because more calls received by 911 are police-related calls. In our neighborhood, average response time for emergency calls was 6.8 minutes through September 2008. This compares favorably for emergency calls citywide, which have an average response time of 7.3 minutes. Both average response times are under the established goal of eight minutes. With the police department providing training and supervision of both 911 operators and dispatchers, we believe the system will become more effective and improve response times across the city and here in our neighborhood. Sometimes neighbors are reluctant to call 911 for routine or non-emergency assistance, like when reporting car burglaries or vandalism. In Dallas, however, the system was designed to accept both emergency and non-emergency calls for police. Establishing this central point to receive calls allows us to better direct calls and expedites the response.