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FACT BRIEF

Does calling 112 provide a direct link to 'state trooper info' in all 50 states?

By Kaiyah Clarke
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NO

The official local and nationwide emergency number in the United States is 911, while 112 is a global emergency number primarily used in European countries.

The claim in a social media post that calling 112 brings help in the U.S. and is a way to verify if an unmarked police car is legitimate is false on both counts. The 9-1-1 Association (the National Emergency Number Association, or NENA) debunked the claim as long ago as 2013, with that organization calling it "bad advice."

The post lays out a dramatic purported scenario of a woman being followed by what could be an unmarked police car, she calls 112, help arrives and it turns out the car following her was being driven by a criminal. But the scenario lacks any details of date, location or police involved.

The post simply urges readers to share its bogus information.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Federal Communications Commission Emergencies Abroad: What Do You Dial?
EENA What's 112 all about?
NENA 911 origin and history
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.