Each year, tens of thousands of people dial 9-1-1 and are connected to Naperville’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC). The men and women who answer those emergency calls are true first responders, connecting residents in emergency situations with Naperville’s police officers and firefighter/paramedics.
Housed at the Naperville Police Department on Aurora Avenue, Naperville’s Emergency Communications Center is a hub of activity outfitted with the latest radio and phone systems. Calls are coming in and going out, police and fire units are being dispatched and supported, alarms and cameras are being monitored, and information is being processed.
Who answers the call when you dial 9-1-1?
The center is staffed by 25 telecommunicators, four supervisors and one manager. A minimum of 4-6 people are on duty at any given time, ensuring continuous support and operations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Here is a glimpse of the volume of work handled by this group in 2023:
- 63,550 9-1-1 calls, averaging 174 calls/day
- 80,230 administrative/non-emergency calls, averaging 219 calls/day
- 932 text-to-9-1-1 messages
- 77,039 police event tickets
- 17,389 fire/emergency medical service-related incidents
When an emergency call comes in, a telecommunicator is trained to gather information from callers while simultaneously dispatching police and fire units to the caller’s location. They are trained to give lifesaving medical instructions over the phone, pinpoint a caller’s location, and run extensive criminal history reports for officers in the field, among many other tasks.
“This is a highly technical, very stressful job that requires our telecommunicators to remain calm under pressure, multitask, and work very quickly but accurately,” said Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres. “This group may seemingly be behind-the-scenes, but their role could not be more critical. They are the first point of contact when people need emergency help, and Naperville’s telecommunicators are phenomenal at their jobs.”
How to Contact Naperville’s Emergency Communication Center
- In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.
- Text to 9-1-1 is available to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile/Sprint customers in Naperville.
- For non-emergencies, dial 630-420-6666.
Helpful Tips from Naperville’s ECC
- If you’re not sure whether you’re experiencing an emergency, it’s OK to call 9-1-1 just to be safe.
- If you need emergency assistance and are deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech disability, or are unable to speak for any reason, you can text 9-1-1. If you can safely make a voice call to 9-1-1, that is the preferred method.
- When you call 9-1-1, expect the call taker to ask your location before anything else! It’s important to know your address, street, intersection or closest business so help can be dispatched to you as quickly as possible.
- Understand that even though a call taker is asking you questions, help is on the way! Our telecommunicators can multitask and strive to dispatch police or fire units to emergency situations within 60 seconds of answering a 9-1-1 call.
- Stay on the line! The call taker will have questions and instructions for you, regardless of what you’re calling about. Don’t disconnect until you’re told to do so.
- Teach your children their home address and how to call 9-1-1! It could save a life someday.
Guests: Jason Arres, Naperville Police Chief and Jillianne Chuffo, Emergency Communications Manager