CFitzDE: Calling 911 =/= calling the police
TFA does not say he called 911 -- it says he called the police. 911 is for emergencies, but you can also call your local precinct in a non-emergency.

I don't know about his city but in some places 911 is the catch all number for the police. You're suppose to call it for anything police/fire/medical related, not just emergencies. This screws things up for people when they are use to that and then move to town where it is only for emergencies. It seems weird but the major I asked said they did it like that because people are really bad at determining what is and isn't an emergency so you have people on 911 for a chicken in the yard while another person is thumbing through the phone book looking for the non-emergency number after a break in. It's easier for the trained 911 operator to determine who should be notified than leaving that judgement to the hundreds of thousands of unique and quirky people who make up the public.