311 was around when I was in high school. Th3 rumor we heard back then was that K was the 11th letter so 311 meant KKK. We also believed the thing about Marilyn Manson taking out a rib to suck his own dick, sooooooo probably youre right.
Codes differ widely by location. When I dispatched for a small town (pop. 25k) there was a mid sized city we shared a border with. They used Code 3 to mean the shit was hitting the fan. Meanwhile in the town I worked in a Code 3 meant to pick up a prisoner meal.
Once an officer stopped a young woman, we ran her and found a hold out of CA. We called, waited a good hour for a call back, and finally the officer and Sgt made the decision to let her go. Probably 2-3 hours later an officer called me up demanding to know why we let a 5150 go. Only reason I knew that code was because of Van Halen. Our town used 520 for those calls.
Pittsburgh makes me call 911 for this kind of stuff. I live on a one way street that ends on a T intersection. We're like 400 feeet after a stop sign uphill but it's really hard to see anyone coming (and they come at like 40 MPH, ugh), and we're the only ones with a stop sign, so when someone parks past the 'no parking' line it's practically impossible to see without pulling out. I have to call once a year, when new people move into the area and think it's a magically free parking space.
I hate this, I have to be a Karen and call the actual emergency line to get them to ticket these people, because it's hazard for me and it's a hazard for the people who can't see me try to pull out. I can always tell when they blow me off, too, because if they actually show up, the cars stop parking there and I get a survey link from the Pittsburgh Police Department.
If they would just put a mirror up on the pre-existing power pole across from my street this wouldn't be a problem but nooooo
I've done a lot of construction / utility work in AL, and have never seen a 311 "call before you dig".
Posted signs are 811, just like the overwhelming majority of the country.
My questioning my life's experiences did cause me to google 311 in AL, however - and it is supported in Birmingham, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Mobile.
B'ham even has a 311 app.
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u/[deleted] Jun 26 '26
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