Call center operators and first responders have a duty to treat all emergency calls for service as true emergencies and to route and respond to them
accordingly.
Case precedent is clear that calls for emergency service should be treated as emergencies, and that it is not the place of the call center operators or first-responders to speculate about the
veracity of the report: United States v. Richardson, 208 F.3d 626, 630 (7th Cir. 2000) held “911 calls reporting an emergency can be enough to support warrantless searches under the exigent
circumstances exception, particularly where, as here, the caller identified himself.” Id.
It noted, “The efficient and effective use of the emergency response networks requires that the police (and other rescue agents) be able to respond to such calls quickly and without unnecessary secondguessing. As then-Circuit Judge Burger stated in Wayne, “[T]he business of policemen and firemen is to act, not to speculate or meditate on whether the report is correct. People could well
die in emergencies if police tried to act with the calm deliberation associated with the judicial process.” Id. (quoting Wayne v. United States, 318 F.2d 205, 212 (D.C. Cir. 1963)).