Stand up for the facts!

Our merely agenda is to publish the truth then you lot can be an informed participant in republic.
We need your help.

More Info

I would similar to contribute

Says if an unmarked car tries to pull you over, you should dial 112 to ostend it's actually a police officer considering the number provides "a direct link to state trooper info," and that "this applies in all 50 states."

true

false
  • Public Safety
  • Facebook Fact-checks
  • Viral image

Dial 911 if there'due south an emergency, not 112

Lauren, the protagonist of this viral Facebook postal service, "actually listened to her parents."

They had told her to never pull over for an unmarked constabulary car on the side of the road — to expect for a gas station instead — so when an unmarked car pulled upward behind her 1 day and put its lights on, she called 112. Why?

"To tell the dispatcher that she would not pull over correct away," says the post, which has been enjoying fresh shares on Facebook despite its original posting date of Aug. 13, 2013. "She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that at that place was an unmarked police force car with a flashing red low-cal on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain at-home and that he had fill-in already on the way. Ten minutes later four cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The human was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes."

The post goes on to explain that 112 is an emergency number that "applies in all 50 states" and provides a "direct link to land trooper info," then urges readers to spread the postal service to anybody every bit it "may well save a life."

This mail service, shared by more than than 2.9 million people so far, was flagged as function of Facebook'southward efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more well-nigh our partnership with Facebook.) The rumor has been circulating online since at least 2002, when Snopes constitute it being shared in an email and rated it False.

Here'south what nosotros can tell you: 911 is the just official emergency number in the Usa. Just 112 is an emergency number in another countries, co-ordinate to the U.Due south. Section of State, including Republic of austria, Denmark, and the Canary Islands.

In response to this warning spreading on social media, a Flim-flam News affiliate in Milwaukee, Wis., in 2013 consulted the local sheriff'southward department near the post's claims and an NBC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., in 2017, did the same with its local constabulary enforcement. In both cases, police enforcement told the news outlets that while dialing 112 in the United States can sometimes redirect callers to 911, it does non event in whatever special handling of 1's emergency call. A sergeant told Fox that because several wireless carriers sell prison cell phones in both the United States and overseas, they convert the emergency number dialed to the appropriate local emergency number. (This reporter and Dart subscriber tried calling 112 on her phone and the telephone read "emergency call" every bit it tried to connect.)

U.S. regime officials and public safety responders universally encourage people to punch 911 ⁠— and no other number ⁠— during an emergency.

"There is no guarantee a person will be rerouted to an emergency number," a police spokesperson told the Paradise View in Las Vegas in 2013.

We rate this Facebook post False.

Facebook postal service, Aug. 13, 2013

Fox 6 Milwaukee, Alert: In case of emergency, dial 911 and NOT 112, March 1, 2013

WCNC, Dialing 112 instead of 911?, Aug. fifteen, 2017

U.S. State Department, 911 abroad, visited November. 4, 2019

Snopes, Should you call #77 or 112 to contact the police in an emergency? March 17, 2002

Paradise View, Constabulary advise once more 911 alternatives, March 12, 2013

Read About Our Process

In a globe of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.

Sign me upwardly