Communications 9-1-1 Center

Picture-911-center-Jan-2023The Wheeling 9-1-1 Center provides 24-hour, 7-day-a-week services for the Village of Wheeling and the City of Des Plaines with a combined population of 97,000. On average, the Center answers over 280 telephone calls per day and processes approximately 114,000 calls for service annually; not all require a case report. 

While focused on customer service, we strive to manage all requests efficiently and accurately in a manner that leaves the public and emergency responders confident in the performance of the Center. The Center is proud to exceed the NENA Call Processing standard with a 99.73% average of calls answered within fifteen (15) seconds.  The average period from the time a call is received to released for dispatch is within forty-seven (47) seconds.

Fifteen full-time telecommunicators staff the Center, which includes three Team Leaders and three Assistant Team Leaders. The staff is supplemented by several part-time telecommunicators, many of whom are police officers. The personnel assigned are responsible for performing a broad range of duties to ensure the prompt answering of incoming requests for police, fire, and emergency medical services and the timely and efficient dispatch of police, units in response to those requests. Calls for fire and emergency medical service are transferred to a secondary dispatch service, Regional Emergency Dispatch, located in Northbrook, IL.

Emergency Notification Program

Text ‘WHEELING’ to 99411 or scan this QR Code to enroll in the Village of Wheeling’s emergency alerts program. 
EmergencyNotifiactionProgramCode PicStay informed in the event of emergency situations or critical community alerts.
  

Call 9-1-1 Immediately if:

  • You are witnessing an in-progress crime
  • You fear you life or safety, or for that of another
  • You believe there is an imminent threat to your property

Text to 9-1-1

Wheeling Police Department accepts text to 9-1-1, however many surrounding areas do not. In the event text to 9-1-1 is not available, you will receive a bounce back message indicating to make a voice call. You should only text to 9-1-1 if you are unable to make a voice call. If you do not receive a response for a text to 9-1-1 call, make a voice call.
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Premise Alert Program

The Illinois Premise Alert Program (Public Act 96-0788) provides for Public Safety Agencies in the State of Illinois to allow people with special needs to provide information to police, fire, and EMS personnel to be kept in a database. The information can then be provided to responders dealing with situations involving Special Needs individuals. The below information provided by you will be kept confidential and used only to provide Police, Fire, and EMS personnel with the information needed to deal with situations or emergencies involving a Special Needs person.

The notification expires 2 years after the date it was submitted. You may update or renew it at any time by filing the form.

Download the Premise Alert Program Form (PDF).

Tips 

  • Due to dispatching for multiple jurisdictions and cell phone technology, a caller should know the intersection/address and town where assistance is needed. 
  • Stay on the line until the telecommunicator tells you to disconnect. 
  • Answer all of the telecommunicator's questions. 
  • When Outdoor Warning Sirens are activated, seek shelter immediately. There is no “All Clear” siren or signal. As a reminder, sirens are tested the first Tuesday of the month at 10am.
  • If you have a VoIP (Voice of Internet Protocol) phone (Comcast, Vonage, AT&T), make sure to test 9-1-1 to ensure the call is routed to the proper dispatch center and the information that displays is correct. To do this, simply call 9-1-1 and explain that you are testing your VoIP phone for accuracy. Remember, VoIP phones do not work during power outages.
  • If you are experiencing a power outage, there is no need to call 9-1-1, unless there is a life-safety hazard or you smell smoke or see fire.

To report an outage, contact ComEd at (800) 334-7661 (Edison) or click here to report online through ComEd's website.

To contact the utility companies, see information below: