Wheeling to consolidate 911 services with one dispatch center starting in 2025
Calls for emergency police and fire department assistance in Wheeling will be routed through the same suburban dispatch center starting in 2025.
The village board on Monday voted to stop using the Northbrook-based Regional Emergency Dispatch Center for fire department-related calls effective Dec. 31, 2024. It will join the Northwest Central Dispatch System, an Arlington Heights-based organization.
The Wheeling Police Department has its own dispatch center. Starting in 2025, Northwest Central Dispatch will handle Wheeling's police 911 calls, too.
Some are the 19 people who work in the police dispatch center are set to retire before the 2025 changeover, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said. Two will remain village employees and staff the front desk at the police station. The others will be tested and given priority consideration if Northwest Central expands its staff once Wheeling joins, he said.
The Regional Emergency Dispatch Center provided dispatch services for Wheeling from 1995 to 2002 and then again since 2007. Its members include more than a dozen fire departments in the North and Northwest suburbs, including those serving Deerfield, Des Plaines, Long Grove and Prospect Heights.
Northwest Central Dispatch serves 12 member communities - including Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg - and two independent fire protection districts. It handles about 400,000 calls annually, according to its website.
Northwest Central also dispatches calls for the fire-related Mutual Aid Box Alarm System and two police-related crisis teams: the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System and the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System.
"It makes all the sense in the world to join our neighboring communities and provide the top-level service that only joint consolidation can offer," Sfondilis said.
RED Center membership has cost Wheeling about $400,000 annually, Sfondilis said. The number has fluctuated based on call volume.
A cost estimate for Northwest Central membership wasn't available, but a financial savings is expected with both police and fire calls beng handled by the same agency, Sfondilis said.
In a related move, the board on Monday also renewed its annual subscription to the Northwest Central's Joint Emergency Management System, an effort designed to standardize emergency response protocols and training. It will cost Wheeling about $26,713 this year.
Both measures were approved without discussion as part of the board's consent agenda for routine matters.