How do I contact
the police department?
The department
non-emergency phone number is (518)499-1316. If you have a complaint and need to speak with the patrol on
duty, select option 1, and you will be connected to the Communications Center, who will take the information and dispatch
the on duty patrol. To speak with the Administrative Division, select option 2, for the Records Division select option 3,
and for the Evidence / Property Division select option 4. If you need to leave a message for a specific staff member,
you may enter their extension and leave a message on their voice mail.
The street address
is 57 Skenesborough Drive, Whitehall, NY.
What hours is
the office open?
The police department
does not have regular office hours, there is an officer on duty 24 hours a day that is on patrol to assist you.
How do I contact
someone to meet me at the station, or if there is no one in the station?
Calling our non-emergency phone number will result in the call being transferred to the
Washington County Department of Public Safety, who has radio contact with our officers.
Is there always someone working at the department?
Even though we provide 24 hour per day coverage, there may not be an officer in the department
because he is on patrol or handling a call for service.
How do I report an emergency situation?
Calling 911 results
in your call being answered thru an enhanced 911 phone system. Explaining your situation to a trained dispatcher will
result in proper response from medical, rescue, fire and police services.
What are some types of emergency situations to report via 911?
Some of the more common emergency calls are the result of traffic accidents, work or home
related accidents resulting in injuries, or other severe medical problems, crimes in progress, situations involving imminent
physical danger, cries for help, drunk or reckless drivers, severe weather, etc. General calls for information or assistance
or reporting crimes not in progress should go thru the non-emergency phone number.
What information should I be prepared to provide?
Generally, more information is better. You will be asked personal information such
as name, address, phone number, and you will also be asked to provide as much of a description of the incident as possible.
Some of this information may include the description of a vehicle or person, direction of travel, directions to and description
of your home or vehicle, whether weapons were used, if anyone else is involved. Remember to remain calm, you can relay
more information that will be better understood and speed help to you.
What if I dial 911 from a cell phone?
Calls to 911 from a cell phone are answered in the same manner as land line 911 telephone
calls. It is imperative to provide detailed location information of your emergency.
Someone knocked over my mailbox or threw a tomato against my house, should I bother to report
this?
Absolutely! Even though it is a minor offense and no real damage occurred, this may
just be the start of something bigger in your neighborhood. It may also have happened the next block over, and if we
don’t learn about it, we won’t know to increase patrols to watch for this type of behavior.
A CD was stolen from my car. You’ll probably never find who did it, so why should
I call?
Once again, it may be a small loss, but we need to know about crimes to plan our response
and services. Sometimes even the smallest bits of information are all that is needed to crack a crime or stop a series
of like crimes from continuing.
What should I expect when an officer arrives at my house to investigate a complaint?
The officer will arrive as soon as possible after receiving the call, depending on workload,
distance from your home, etc. Generally, response time should be within 15 minutes. The officer will then ask
for information about the incident or complaint. The investigation may also require checking for physical evidence,
or interviewing other family members, neighbors, etc.
It’s been several days and there’s no progress on solving my complaint. What’s
going on?
There may be several things that are happening, including further interviews, interrogations
or evidence processing. It may also mean that there is no way to solve the complaint based on the current information
in our possession. Active investigation stops only when there are no other directions to go with the complaint.
It remains open, pending new leads. For answers to any questions you may have, contact the investigating officer via
their voice mail or e-mail if not on duty.
Way to go! You solved my crime and arrested a suspect, now what happens?
We file charges against a suspect with the Washington County
District Attorney’s Office. From there the judicial system takes over and the suspect has his day in court.
