If a cop is responding to a call and .....................?

Question

If an officer is responding an emergency call and sees another emergency happen in front of him, does he need to stop to call it in and contuine on to the call?

If sees an non-emergency does he keep going and just call it in?

Answer 1

he keeps going- informs the dispatcher so they can dispatch another cop to that scene.

Answer 2

It would be up to the officer and his discretion.

For instance, if he was on an emergency call to a convenient store that was robbed 30 minutes ago, but the thief had left, and along the way he witnessed a horrible car accident with a fire and injured people, then he should stop to help them first.

However, if he was on an emergency call to a report of an armed suspect threatening people and along the way he witnessed an altercation in a parking lot, the better idea would be to call it in and keep going to the original call.  In some cases if he knew backup was already en route to the first call and they would have enough, he may deem it more important to stop and temporarily see if he could intervene in the fight first.

Keep in mind police have a lot of discretion and are entrusted to use sound judgment on how to best handle public safety.