E-911

Welcome to the City of Waltham 911 Center. Waltham is a city with a residential population of more than 62,000. This figure at least doubles during each weekday, presenting the public service agencies with some unique challenges in this community located 9 miles west of Boston. Waltham is home to two major universities, Brandeis University @ 415 South St and Bentley University @ 385 Beaver St. Waltham also has a major highway, Route 95, running through it. This combination makes Waltham streets very busy during morning and evening rush hours.

The 911 Center is staffed with 24 full time employees. There is a Chief ETD, (4) ETD Shift Supervisors, and (19) Emergency Communication Dispatchers. The four groups work a 4 on 2 off schedule. There are three 8-hour shifts in a calendar day starting with the day shift 0700-1500, (7a-3p) first half 1500-2300, (3p-11p) and last half shift 2300-0700, (11p-7a).  Dispatchers work a variety of shifts; LLFF, FFDD and straight DDDD in order to maintain minimum staffing on a consistent basis.

The 911 Center has a strict minimum dispatcher policy of no less than four dispatchers working at any given time. When the 911 Center is at minimum, it allows for (1) Police Dispatcher, (1) Fire Dispatcher, and (2) Call takers, one of which is also the Shift Supervisor.  Increased staffing is dictated by weather conditions and by major fire or police incidents or anytime of increased call volumes.

The 911 Center has six dispatch positions, all of which have NG911 technology and Computer Aided Dispatch, CAD system in place.

For more information see the list of E911 FAQS that answer some of commonly asked questions.