Space, safety concerns reason for project
By Robert Cloud
Work has started on Waupaca County’s new 911 Call Center.
Waupaca County Sheriff Tim Wilz said the new call center increases the amount of work space and enhances the safety of the communications officers.
Wilz said protesters threw a Molotov cocktail into the City County Building in Madison last summer, causing a fire near Dane County’s 911 Call Center.
Dispatchers had to evacuate the call center and move to a backup area.
Currently located in a room along an outside wall with windows, Waupaca County’s 911 Call Center is vulnerable to a firebomb or a vehicle, Wilz said.
“If that’s compromised, it could shut down the entire county,” Wilz said, regarding the call center’s exposure to violence.
In a report to the county board in June, Wilz said the communications officers monitor 12 radio channels, the 911 land lines and cell lines.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, the call center serves eight law enforcement agencies, 14 fire departments, five ambulance services, seven emergency responder units, state patrol, the DNR, the county highway department and utilities.
In 2020, the 911 Center received a total of 38,997 emergency calls, as well as handling 564,870 radio transmissions and 113,316 non-emergency phone calls.
The new call center will be in a room farther from the building’s exterior, with additional security features and no windows.
“We were able to locate two rooms in the center of the sheriff’s office that weren’t being utilized,” Wilz said.
Construction crews have removed walls to make the two rooms into one.
Larger space
At more than 1,200 square feet, the new call center is also larger than the old center, which was 880 square feet.
“We’ve outgrown that 911 center,” Wilz said, adding that the new center will have eight work stations.
The old call center had five stations.
Each station has six screens that the communications officers monitor, which include information on where a 911 call originates, a report on the call and officer follow up.
Waupaca County also uses Spillman technology to integrate all current information, vehicle, criminal and other records into a single database that can be used by both dispatch and officers in their squad cars.
The call center also has large, wall-mounted screens that monitor security camera feeds from the schools and that indicate the locations and movements of officers with all agencies who are patrolling Waupaca County.
The new center will also have a kitchen, locker room, break room and nearby bathrooms.
Wilz said construction costs are significantly below the original estimates of $914,000 for just the walls, HVAC and electrical.
Capelle Bros. & Diedrich Inc. of Fond du Lac began construction July 12 after submitting a bid of $328,000 for the same work.
The work stations and incident command table will cost an additional $165,000.
Wilz said the new call center is scheduled to be completed by Nov. 12.