For Evanston resident Eric Warren, there’s no place like the 911 telecommunication center at Evanston Police Department.
“It’s kind of like ‘The Wizard of Oz’,” said Warren, 33, surprised to see only three people staffing a room that accomplishes so much. “You open up this curtain and there’s just a little man pulling these strings.”
On Saturday morning Warren and five classmates from EPD’s Citizens Police Academy said they gained new respect for the training, multi-tasking and emotional toil behind four simple words: “911. What’s your emergency?”
“We really are the nerve center of the whole department,” said EPD’s assistant communications supervisor, Curtis Nekovar, who ran Saturday’s three-hour “Telecommunications Overview” session.
The telecommunication center at EPD, 1454 Elmwood Ave., received more than 130,000 calls in 2003, Nekovar said.
The center receives all calls from Northwestern’s campus and dispatches University Police officers when necessary, he added.
But during Saturday morning’s session, EPD’s center was quiet. Only one of the three officers on duty was busy, speaking the location of a hit-and-run accident into his headset before changing the case status to “dispatched” on his computer screen.
When an emergency strikes, a telecommunications officer must be ready and able to listen, type and ask questions all at once, said Nekovar, who has worked in the dispatch field for 16 years.
“It’s amazing to watch,” Nekovar said. “You walk through that room and you see them flying.”
During the session, Nekovar played tapes of past 911 calls EPD received.
As the shrieks and screams of a hysterical caller pierced the air, the students strained to make out the words.
Nekovar flicked off the tape player and turned to the class.
“What was the call for service?” he asked.
The room was silent.
“Rape?” someone guessed.
“Robbery?”
The call, Nekovar said, was about a gas leak. That call was one example of yet another challenge a telecommunications officer regularly faces.
“You have to remember that you’re the voice of reason and calm,” said Jesse Ramsay, 29, who has worked in EPD’s communication center for about a year. “You have to maintain that when someone’s hysterical on the other end of the line.”
The 480-hour training program includes lessons in calming techniques and managing stressful situations, Nekovar said. Hiring is a several-month process that includes a psychological exam and a personal interview.
“You used to get the job, we’d throw you in there after a week or two, and may the Lord be with you,” Nekovar said, prompting laughter from the small group.
A lot has changed since 1970 when EPD became the first North Shore community to implement a 911 system, Nekovar said. Telecommunication officers face new challenges every day — such as tracing calls from cellular phones.
Near the end of the session, Nekovar reminded the students of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Many who answered 911 calls from the World Trade Center that day, he said, had to answer an unthinkable question.
“Should I jump?”
“Just imagine being asked that on the phone,” Nekovar said. “I can’t fathom that, even after doing this for so many years. And it’s those faces behind the scene you didn’t see. They were running the show.”
