Have a neighbor call 911 on your behalf? Call your local police precinct directly?

Your local police department should have a "non-emergency" (non-911) number that you can call. Although ours says it is non-emergency, it connects to the same emergency dispatcher as 911.

Another idea is: don't check your security cameras while you're in Europe. Just enjoy being in Europe! Then you won't need to get a hold of anyone back home for emergency assistance. You might enjoy your trip more if you're not monitoring your security cameras back home.

The emergency number in most of Europe is

112

Previously there were different numbers in each country. These usually still work (for example 999 in the UK). 112 was added so travellers only had one number to remember. This will of course just get you the local emergency services wherever you are..
The 911 xxxx number series is used for normal local numbers in most areas.

As the others say, you need to know the normal number of your local police station, and dial that, preceded by the country code for the USA (001):

001 aaa nnn nnnn

or, from a mobile phone:

+1 aaa nnn nnnn

If you have a smart phone, install Google Voice before leaving the US, so you can make free calls home to non-emergency numbers (e.g. local police department). You may need to add a +1 to the front of the US phone number.

Geez, paranoia runs deep, into your mind it will creep. There's a song in there.

Best thing to do is to plan ahead. Let a neighbor that you are friendly with know of your plans. Give them your email.

Don't publish a daily diary of your trip on Facebook. Instead, keep a daily diary on your computer and publish it when you reutn, 1 day at a time. That way, if anyone gets any funny ideas, you'll be there to meet them instead of being in Cannes or Pisa or whatever.

And enjoy your trip.

911 is designed to connect you to your local emergency service -- local related to where you are when you dial the number.

You will need to dial the actual local number of fire/police/ambulance to reach them if you are not in your home area. You should be able to find that number on the local government web page for where you live.

As others have mentioned, letting a trusted friend neighbor or relative watch over things is probably a better option.

Simple --- No you cannot.

Let's suppose you're on vacation in a US state far from home. If you run off the road, but can use your phone, and you dial 911, do you want to reach the local agency that handles 911 for that highway? Or do you want to reach your home 911 agency?

We have been paying the phone companies huge fees specifically to improve 911 location recognition for many years, and they are still taking the money. But rare, tragic individuals are still not having their location displayed to 911 operators. But monthly phone bills .... that technology works fine.

I don’t agree at all with the paranoia. I post all my trip details on social media and don’t worry at all about someone breaking in to my apartment. Has it happened to people? I’m sure it has, but how often is it a bitter ex-spouse, bf/gf ?

There’s no way I’d be monitoring security cameras while I’m on a vacation that I’ve spent good money for. Even spending ten minutes setting fantasy baseball lineups in a weird time zone is a pain and I love baseball.

blattner,

The "short answer" is NO. Even if you were using one of the internet phone systems, that would most likely connect to the 9-1-1 system in whichever area code in the U.S. that it's located. Using 1-1-2 would also likely not be a realistic option as you may be dealing with a language barrier with local emergency operators, and expecting them to know how to contact the specific 9-1-1 system in your area is likely not realistic.

I've had some personal experience with this sort of thing, and have a few thoughts.....

• arrange for a trusted neighbour or security patrol firm to check your house periodically, on on demand.
• make a note of the non-emergency number for your local police department, and use that to contact them if the need arises. There may be a delay in answering, but tell them at the outset that you're not able to call the usual 9-1-1 number, and request that you be transferred to the appropriate operator. When that operator answers, also tell him/her that you're calling from a remote location.

Some further thoughts......

• unless the camera notifies you when it detects motion, you won't be aware of any events until long after they take place. Even if they do notify you, there could be times when you don't have cellular data access (ie: during the flights), so there will be a delay before you're able to check them.
• to supplement your cameras, you might consider having a basic security alarm installed as well. The new wireless units work reasonably well, but of course virtually all of them come with monthly monitoring charges. Shop around.
• if it's necessary for the 9-1-1 operators in your area to call you back after checking your house, they may be reluctant to do that if they have to dial an international long distance number in some European country. Therefore, travelling with your home number is a better strategy.

Could you elaborate on what type of cameras you're using? Some brands allow notification of more than one person. Perhaps a family member could act as "backup" in watching the cameras.