Communications

ALWAYS DIAL 911 IF YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY

The Burlington Police Department's Dispatch/ Communications Center is a 24-hour a day, 7 days a week center. The center functions as a vital link between the city's police and fire departments and those who need emergency and non-emergency assistance.

The center is equipped with state of the art technology in order to maintain our commitment of professional, quality service to the citizens of Burlington. We handle over 128,000 incoming calls and dispatch over 88,000 calls (both police and fire) annually. If any citizen needs the police department's non-emergency services, we request they call (336) 229-3500, which goes directly to the communications center. If you are experiencing an emergency, please dial 911 immediately! View tips on how to use 911.

All call-taking workstations in our agency are equipped to process calls placed by TDD users though the use of a TDD decoder that can detect both the ASCII and Baudot transmission modes that are common to TDD devices.

Once a TDD call is detected by our personnel, they may begin an exchange with the caller to determine the nature of the problem that is being reported. They do this by use of a keyboard to originate messages or to send programmed messages to the caller’s device. The information that is obtained through this process is then entered into the Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD), and sent to the appropriate dispatch position within the Communications Center for assignment to a public safety responder.

Our personnel are trained to process these types of incidents; they undergo a training process that will enable our personnel to effectively communicate with those that are communications impaired. Training and testing in the use of TDD devices is an ongoing process that is routinely evaluated by our staff to ensure that all citizens within our service area receive proper attention in their time of need.

Language Line:

The Communication Center has the ability to communicate to people from different nationalities through the Language Line. When a caller dials 911 and does not speak English, an interpreter can be easily reached through the Language Line. The Telecommunicator can access this service directly while remaining in contact with the caller. A Language Line representative comes on the line and assists in determining the language needed. Once the appropriate language is determined, an interpreter speaks to the caller and relays requested information back to the Telecommunicator. This enables the Communications Center to properly determine the caller’s need and dispatch the appropriate agency.

Speech and Hearing Impaired:

Communications personnel at the Burlington Police/Fire Communications Center can easily converse with those citizens that are communication impaired. The personnel of this department are trained to use the Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD).

Who to call:

InCommunications Team at a community event the event of severe weather, DO NOT call 911 to report utility outages, call the proper number listed below:

Power outages:

1 (800) 769-3766

Downed telephone lines:

611

Downed cable line:

(336) 584-1380

Downed power lines:

(336) 229-3500


 View the Communications Center organizational chart.

Contact Us

  1. Communications

    Phone: 336-229-3550

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