911 Communications

The Communications Center consist of thirteen full-time employees and two part-time employees. The Communications staff consists of a Communications Director, Assistant Communications Director, four (4) Communication Supervisors and seven (7) Telecommunicators. The center is manned 24 hours 7 days a week. Every Telecommunicator is certified by the North Carolina Sheriff’s Training and Standards, DCI (Division of Criminal Information) certified by the State Bureau of Investigations, and EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch) certified through the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED). EMD is protocols that standardize the call-taking process in addition to allowing for pre-arrival instructions to be provided to the caller over the phone while emergency responders are en-route.
 
The center receives and dispatches calls for the Sheriff’s Office (to include Animal Control), four (4) Edgecombe County Rescue Squad Stations, ten (10) County Volunteer Fire Departments, and five (5) out of county Volunteer Fire Departments. The Communications Center also receives all nonbusiness hour calls for various departments of Edgecombe County.

911 and Cell Phones
Cell phones can be an important public safety tool.  However, they also create unique challenges for public safety and emergency response personnel.  No matter what you may have heard, we cannot determine the precise location of a caller who dials 911 from any cell phone.  It is essential that you stay on the line and clearly give your locations to the 911 call taker.

Text to 911
The center has also upgraded its technology to receive Text to 911 (TXT2911).  However, this technology is still evolving, it is slow and it is not the most reliable.  Texting to a 911 Center does not give the operator the information needed for an emergency.  Also, your local 911 Center may not be able to accept text messages.  A voice call continues to be the best way to reach 911.  Currently, we can receive text messages from the following carriers:  AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular.

                                                    911:  Call If You Can, Text if You Can't

Emergency calls dial 911

Non-Emergency calls dial 641-7911

911 should only be called when you have an Emergency, or a life threatening incident such as:

  • someone is doing something illegal
  • someone is hurt
  • if you see fire of smell smoke
When not to call 911

  • to get information, please use the non-emergency number
  • to see if it works, IT DOES!
  • 911 is not a joke
911 can be called from any type of phone, whether you have service or not, in the United States.