Norfolk Police Adds AI to Non-Emergency Phone Lines, Keeps 911 Calls With People

Norfolk residents seeking routine police information now have an AI option instead of waiting for a call taker. The Norfolk Police Department’s Emergency 911 Division announced on October 5, 2026, that it had launched an Amazon Web Services-powered system for select non-emergency calls. The boundary is explicit: all calls to 911 will still be answered by trained emergency telecommunicators.

E911 Manager Steven Summerlin said the system can answer a non-emergency caller almost immediately. His pitch is that someone asking an informational question should not have to wait for a live employee when the automated service can help.

Using AI is not the caller’s only option. Residents who prefer a person can say, “I want to speak to an agent.” The system then transfers them to a non-emergency line for the next available call taker. That is a route to human help, not a promise of an immediate human answer: the caller returns to the non-emergency queue.

More than 250,000Police, fire and medical calls

The department says E911 personnel answer more than 250,000 police, fire and medical calls each year.

Approximately 150,000Administrative calls

They also answer approximately 150,000 administrative calls annually, according to the department.

Summerlin said 911 calls remain the division’s top priority, which leaves non-emergency callers facing longer waits. The department’s goal is to reduce those holds and improve staff availability during peak periods. Automating routine inquiries is intended to leave call takers more time for critical incidents requiring extended attention and rapid response.

Norfolk expects the system to divert roughly 35–40% of non-emergency-related calls immediately upon entering use. That is a department forecast, not a measured deployment result; the announcement provides no measured changes in hold times or emergency response times.