Every April, I write to The Bee and our community to publicly thank the staff at the Newtown Emergency Communications Center (ECC). My team of nine professionals works through storms, accidents, disputes, fires, and medical emergencies — situations that prompt a call to 9-1-1 or one of our routine lines.
Rockport PD dispatchers honored as the community’s ‘first first responders’
When a frantic caller contacts the City of Rockport’s Public Safety Communications Center, the first voice they hear isn’t from a police officer.
For Mark Lallak, the evolution of 911 is personal. He watched it happen in real time from behind the dispatch console.
When Lallak was working as a 911 telecommunicator in the ’90s, most calls came from landlines. Because the phone numbers were associated with fixed locations, dispatchers had a name and address associated with each phone number. If someone called in, first responders almost always knew where they needed to go.
Then as cell phones emerged, everything changed.
Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The Illinois State Police (ISP) announced an upgrade to all 169 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) throughout Illinois. All 169 locations are now powered through Next Generation 911 (NG911). The agency says this new update upgrades the traditional 911 service from voice-centric networks to secure, IP-based (internet-based) infrastructure designed to support today’s communications.
CLEARFIELD – Charges have been filed against a former Clearfield County 911 dispatcher for sharing information from the county’s computer system and for her participation in drug sales.
