Does calling 112 on a cell phone directly link the caller to a state trooper in the United States? No, that's not true: 112 is the emergency number used across the European Union -- it is not a dedicated state police line in the U.S. The emergency number 911 is used in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Although some cell phone companies will recognize a 112 call placed in North America as an emergency call and route it to a local 911 dispatcher, in a true emergency people in North American should call 911, and people in the EU should call 112.
The false claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Facebook on February 26, 2025. The post begins:
EVERYBODY SHOULD READ THIS!!!!!!!!!
WARNING: Some knew about the red light on cars, but not Dialing 112.
An UNMARKED police car pulled up behind her and put his lights on. Lauren's parents have always told her to never pull over for an unmarked car on the side of the road, but rather to wait until they get to a gas station, etc.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 20:54:25 2025 UTC)
The post continues:
Lauren had actually listened to her parents advice, and promptly called, 112 on her cell phone to tell the police dispatcher that she would not pull over right away. She proceeded to tell the dispatcher that there was an unmarked police car with a flashing red light on his rooftop behind her. The dispatcher checked to see if there were police cars where she was and there weren't, and he told her to keep driving, remain calm and that he had back up already on the way.
Ten minutes later 4 cop cars surrounded her and the unmarked car behind her. One policeman went to her side and the others surrounded the car behind. They pulled the guy from the car and tackled him to the ground. The man was a convicted rapist and wanted for other crimes.
I never knew about the 112 Cell Phone feature. I tried it on my AT&T phone & it said, "Dialing Emergency Number."
Especially for a woman alone in a car, you should not pull over for an unmarked car. Apparently police have to respect your right to keep going on to a safe place.
*Speaking to a service representative at Bell Mobility confirmed that 112 was a direct link to State trooper info. So, now it's your turn to let your friends know about "Dialing, 112"
You may want to send this to every Man, Woman & Youngster you know; it may well save a life.
This applies to ALL 50 states
This is an old hoax that has been circulating on social media for over 20 years. Snopes published a debunk (archived here) in 2002, including the text of the original copy/paste warning about a "friend's daughter" who was travelling from "Winchester, Va. to visit a friend in Warrenton." Although some of the details have been lost over the years, the name of the young driver, "Lauren," remains the same.
Lead Stories spoke by phone on March 4, 2025, with Capt. Ronald Galaviz (archived here), the chief public information officer with the Indiana State Police. Galaviz said that a colleague was familiar with the claim and that calling 112 from a cell phone may route the call to the local 911 dispatcher -- the same as simply calling 911 -- but:
If you are going to dial any three numbers for emergency assistance of any type, it should be 911.
A March 2, 2025, post (archived here) on Facebook from the Weakley County Sheriff's Department shared a warning (pictured below) about the viral Facebook post encouraging people to call 112. The post reads:
The 911 center has been receiving calls from persons calling 112. It is our understanding there is a Facebook post encouraging people to do this. The callers have stated they were trying what the Facebook post said. Dialing 112 will call 911. This should only be dialed in a true emergency. Please do not dial this number just to see if it works. Call only if you have an emergency. These types of calls take resources away from those who need it.
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 04 21:54:05 2025 UTC)
The European Emergency Number Association (EENA) celebrates 112 day every year on February 11. A post on Bluesky (archived here) marked the 2025 event and promotes the EENA website (pictured below). One article (archived here) on eena.org titled, "What's 112 all about?" explains:
112 is the European emergency number, available free of charge, 24/7, anywhere in the European Union. Citizens can dial 112 to reach the emergency services, including the police, emergency medical services and the fire brigade.
EENA believes that having a common emergency number everywhere in Europe is directly benefiting citizens and visitors but, unfortunately, this potentially life-saving number is largely unknown.
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 04 22:18:05 2025 UTC)
Another article (archived here) is titled, "Is 112 a valid emergency number in America?" explains how cell phones connect to the local emergency dispatcher but includes complex information about the specific cell communications technology. Two paragraphs highlighted here summarize:
On mobile networks, identifying an emergency call is a bit more complex. When an end-user makes an emergency call, the mobile device doesn't rely on the specific dialled digits (like 112, 911, or 999) to signal the call to the network. Instead, the mobile device sets the appropriate flags within the call signalling to inform the network that an emergency call is being made.
If a device does not recognise the dialled number as an emergency number, what happens next depends on several factors including how call routing is implemented in the mobile network and the type of communications technology in use. If the serving network recognises the dialled digits as a valid local emergency number, and the call is on 2G/3G network, the mobile network may still treat it as an emergency call and route it with priority to the appropriate PSAP. In this case, while the device treats the call as a normal voice call, the network treats it as an emergency call.
There is no benefit to dialing 112 from a cell phone located in North America, just as there is no benefit to dialing 911 from a phone located in the European Union -- hopefully either would still route the call to the local emergency assistance. But 112 does NOT connect to a "direct link to State Trooper info." There is no need for people to learn or remember an additional emergency number other than the number promoted by the police and fire departments of that nation. In the countries of North America -- Canada, the United States and Mexico -- that's 911.
