Communications Division

 

In an Emergency Dial 9-1-1

Kennebunkport 9-1-1 calls are answered by the Town of York


The mission of the Kennebunkport Communications Center is to provide rapid and convenient access to public safety for the citizens of the town, and all those passing through our jurisdiction. We shall strive to send the appropriate response to their calls for assistance in a timely manner. We shall offer our assistance to all other agencies, when requested and when within our means.


The Public Safety Dispatchers perform a vital function within the Department. They must have the ability to be calm when talking to emotionally upset or irate individuals or when confronted with life and death situations. Dispatchers must listen carefully, simultaneously distinguishing between, and monitoring, multiple radio transmissions and telephone conversations. They also must remember past calls and events and relay correct information to officers in the field. Working under pressure, Dispatchers must exercise good judgment and make sound decisions in highly charged emergency situations.


The communications center, which dispatches for the Police, Fire and KEMS Departments, is staffed 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Currently our staffing level consists of four full time and two reserve dispatchers who work rotating eight-hour shifts.


The communication officers’ main priority is to the Police, Fire, and KEMS Departments, where they dispatch, via computer and radio, emergency and non-emergency calls. The records management and CAD (computer aided dispatch) systems were upgraded in 2002 and now operate in coordination with the computers in the police cruisers to immediately provide the officers with vital information as soon as the call is received in the communications center. The dispatcher is also responsible for answering emergency and non-emergency calls for Public Assistance, Animal Control, Beach Patrol, Parking Control, Detective, Patrol Staff, Administration, and Records. 

Each dispatcher must maintain Certified Terminal Operator certification, which enables them to operate sophisticated law enforcement computer programs, as well as the ability to access law enforcement nationwide. They must also maintain National Emergency Medical Dispatch Certification. EMD training gives the communication officer the ability to aid those faced with a medical emergency, by giving lifesaving phone aid to callers, before responders arrive on scene.


The Department requests that when calling in an EMERGENCY, call 9-1-1 which will be answered by York Police, but when calling for a business related issue or to speak to an officer please utilize 967-2454.   Calling 9-1-1 in a non-emergency situation may prevent our Public Safety Dispatchers from answering a true emergency call as quickly as they could have.