9-1-1 Cell Phone Calls Will Stay in Muskego

Cellular 9-1-1 calls made within the city will soon go directly to the Muskego Police Department, significantly cutting response time in emergency situations.

The Police Department, with the approval of the city's Finance Committee and full Common Council Tuesday night, will soon begin the process to opt out of its current arrangement with Waukesha County and work to update its dispatch system in order to make this new arrangement possible.

Currently, 9-1-1 calls are routed to Waukesha County's dispatch center. From there, the County dispatcher makes contact with the municipality and relays whatever information the caller provided. This arrangement may not only cost precious seconds in a serious situation, but it may also lead to incorrect information being relayed from time to time because the municipality is essentially the last receiver in a series of three connections.

The Police Department will have to work with the various cell-phone carriers to ensure that their towers will direct the incoming emergency calls appropriately.

During the Finance Committee meeting, the work of the Waukesha County dispatch center was praised, but it was noted that many larger communities have already begun the transition to directly taking their own 9-1-1 calls. Dispatching at the county level is more ideal for unincorporated and smaller communities that rely on a sheriff's department, for example. Most of Waukesha County's municipalities are already handling their own 9-1-1 calls.

The move will cost approximately $4,000 extra per year for the city. No extra staff is needed.