The Lehigh County non-emergency number is 610-437-5252. It connects to the Lehigh County 9-1-1 Center for police, fire, and EMS matters that don’t involve an immediate threat to life or property, and it’s staffed around the clock by the same dispatchers who answer 911 calls.1Lehigh County. 911 Center – Lehigh County Using it instead of 911 for routine reports keeps the emergency lines open for calls where seconds matter.
When to Use 610-437-5252 Instead of 911
The simplest test: if no one is in danger right now and no crime is actively happening, use the non-emergency line. A break-in you discover after the fact, a car parked illegally for days, graffiti on a fence, a loud party at 1 a.m., a stray animal, a minor fender-bender where everyone is safe, or a request for extra patrols on your street all belong here.
Call 911 when someone is hurt, a crime is in progress, a fire is burning, or a situation is unfolding where delay could cause injury or major property loss. If you aren’t sure, lean toward 911. Dispatchers would rather downgrade a call than hear about an emergency too late.
Some municipalities in Lehigh County also have their own police department phone lines for routine business. If you already know the department covering your address, calling it directly works. Otherwise, the county non-emergency number routes your request to the right agency.2Pennsylvania 211. Lehigh County 9-1-1 Communications Center – Lehigh County Emergency Management
What to Have Ready Before You Dial
A few details before you call save time for both sides. Know the address or nearest cross streets where the incident happened, and be ready to describe what occurred in a sentence or two. If a person or vehicle was involved, note what you saw: clothing, hair color, height, vehicle color and make, or a license plate. Even a partial plate helps.
The dispatcher will ask for your name, phone number, and address. That isn’t optional. Responding officers may have follow-up questions, and your contact information becomes part of the official incident record.
Text-to-911 When You Can’t Speak
Lehigh County’s 911 center accepts text messages to 911 for people who cannot safely make a voice call. The guidance from the county is straightforward: call if you can, text if you can’t. The feature is meant for situations where speaking aloud would put you at risk, and for callers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
If you text, keep the message under 160 characters, skip slang and abbreviations, and include your location. Expect a back-and-forth as dispatchers text questions. Texts take longer to process than voice calls and can fail if you cross into a neighboring county that doesn’t support the service, so a phone call is faster and more reliable whenever it’s an option.
What Happens After You Call
Your report enters the county’s Computer Aided Dispatch system, which assigns a unique incident number and a timestamp automatically.3Bureau of Justice Assistance. Standard Functional Specifications for Law Enforcement Computer Aided Dispatch Systems Write that incident number down. You’ll need it for an insurance claim or any follow-up with the police department.
Non-emergency calls sit in a queue behind active emergencies, so response times depend on what else is happening in the county. A noise complaint on a quiet Tuesday afternoon might draw an officer within 30 minutes; the same call on a busy Friday night could take much longer. The CAD system weighs priority and recommends unit assignments based on the nature of the call and who’s available.4U.S. Department of Homeland Security. System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders TechNote – Computer Aided Dispatch Systems Some reports, such as an abandoned vehicle, may go to a municipal department or code enforcement rather than a patrol officer.
Getting a Copy of Your Incident Report
Once an officer completes a report, you can request a copy under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. Submit the Commonwealth’s standard Right-to-Know form in writing to the open-records officer at the relevant police department, in person, by mail, by email, or by fax. Include enough detail to identify the record: the incident number, the date, and your name.
The agency has five business days to respond and can extend that deadline by up to 30 calendar days with written notice. If you hear nothing within five business days, the request is treated as denied, and you have 15 business days to appeal to Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records. Requests for police video or audio recordings fall under a separate law, Act 22, which requires the request to be submitted within 60 days of the recording’s creation.