About WCC

Call Volume

In 2021, WCC dispatchers received 247,915 phone calls (5.37% increase from 2020):  88,245 were 911 cellular and landline calls (average answering time of 5.3 seconds).  144 were text-to-911 calls.  159,526 were non-emergency/administrative calls.  WCC dispatchers made 82,252 outbound phone calls as well. 

Operations and Facility

The Waukesha County Communications Center (WCC) is the largest Public Service Answering Point (PSAP) in Waukesha County, processing cellular and landline calls for a multitude of police and fire departments.  WCC dispatches first responders and handles radio communications for 20 police departments and 17 fire departments.  WCC is also the primary dispatch center for Division 106 (Waukesha County) of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS), which handles the coordinated dispatch of predetermined mutual aid units and resources from multiple fire departments on incidents where more apparatus or manpower is needed such as a structure fire or mass casualty incident.  

WCC's original 12,000 square-foot building at 1621 Woodburn Road in the city of Waukesha was completed in January 2004 and began operations on July 17th, 2004.  In April 2018, a 7,500 square-foot, $3 million addition was completed and is designed to withstand an F2 tornado.  This added room for administative offices, a garage for emergency management vehicles and equipment, and the Bill Stolte Emergency Operations Center: a state-of-the-art space for large-scale event planning and command operations.  

Training and Staffing

All WCC trainees begin training with six weeks in a classroom setting.  Throughout this classroom portion, all trainees obtain the certifications necessary to provide the high level of service we provide to the residents of Waukesha County such as CPR, and Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) and Emergency Fire Dispatch (EFD) via The International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. Once the trainees complete classroom training, they are moved to the dispatch floor and work under the close supervision of Communication Training Officer (CTO) certified dispatchers to become fully competent in call-taking, dispatching, and teletype duties.  WCC's extensive training program has achieved Association of Public-Safety Communications Officers (APCO) Project 33 Accreditation. The APCO Project 33 Agency Training Program Certification is a formal mechanism for public safety agencies to certify their training programs as meeting APCO American National Standards (ANS).   

WCC currently has a team of 31 full-time, 5 part-time, and 3 temporary part-time dispatchers who work 8-hour shifts (0600-1400, 1400-2200, and 2200-0600) that alternate with "early in" or "late stay" 12-hour shifts (start times for 12-hour shifts occur every four hours: 0200 & 0600 for 1st shift, 1000 & 1400 for 2nd shift, and 1800 & 2200 for 3rd shift).  These dispatchers rotate daily between call-taking, teletype, and dispatching on five police radio channels and one fire radio channel.  In addition to call-taking and dispatching, many of WCC's dispatchers are members on specialty teams.  WCC's Leadership Team supports daily operations, specialty team functions, and future growth.