Crime prevention is everyone’s responsibility. By taking simple safety steps, you can help protect yourself, your family, and your neighborhood. Share these tips with friends and neighbors to help keep our community safe.

Witnesses and victims are sometimes reluctant or unsure about calling 911. Remember, your call is not a burden and could help us prevent a crime. The 911 call takers will quickly determine if your call is an emergency or non-emergency call for service and will dispatch the call to police accordingly. 

Tell the call taker you are reporting a crime, emergency, or suspicious activity, then allow the call taker to control the call and questions. The 911 call takers have a system and format they follow to get the most accurate information from you to send to the dispatchers and officers. Allow them to follow their process, and the call will go much more quickly and smoothly. 

If you do not know the answer to a question, it's okay to say, "I don't know."

Call takers may ask you if you wish to have an officer contact you. Saying "yes" can be a great help to investigating officers. Enabling officers to speak with you by phone or in person allows them to gain or confirm valuable details about a possible suspect in a crime. Please stay on the line with call takers until they tell you they have what they need and say it's okay to hang up. 

For more information on crime prevention and statistics, please visit the resources below:

• Crime Statistics | City of Clayton, MO
• Missouri State Highway Patrol - Crime In Missouri Dashboards
• St. Louis County and Municipal Crime Map
• Missouri State Highway Patrol UCR Statistical Analysis Website
• Reporting Suspicious Activity | City of Clayton, MO