Dispatch

Dispatch

Please see our video on using the 9-1-1 service.

General Information

The Petaluma Communications Center processes emergency calls for police, fire and ambulance responses and business calls for the Police Department after normal business hours. Dispatchers also handle after hours emergency calls for other City departments. The Department has state of the art phone and radio equipment, as well as, a sophisticated computer aided dispatch system.

The Communications Center is authorized to have 12 full time dispatchers and 2-3 part time dispatchers. The Communications Center is staffed around the clock with a minimum of two dispatchers at all times. All dispatchers are fully trained to answer any type of call that may be received.

The Dispatchers are responsible for answering six 911 lines, five police and fire lines for urgent calls and business lines for non emergency calls. In fiscal year 2004 the Communications Section handled 60,818 police calls for service and 54,895 fire and ambulance calls for service for a total of 65,713 calls for service. In 2003 the Communications Center handled more than 10,000 911 calls.

Calling For Help

Emergency Calls

If you have a life or death emergency or an in progress incident, call 911 from a land line phone . Cellular/wireless phone calls placed to 911 within the city are not answered directly by the Petaluma dispatch center. These calls are routed to the CHP dispatch center and the forwarded to Petaluma . This can result in several minutes delay. To reach the police and fire help directly when using a cellular phone, call 762-2727 for police or 762-4545 for fire . These numbers are answered at the Petaluma Communications Center.

Types of calls for which 911 should be used are:

  • Injured people
  • Vehicle accidents with injuries
  • Fires
  • Physical fights in progress, including domestic violence
  • Calls involving weapons
  • A burglary or robbery in progress
  • Prowlers
Non Emergency Calls

For non- emergency incidents or reports, please call 778-4372.

TDD Calls

The Communications Center has the ability to process TDD calls.

Translators

Translation service for both emergency and non emergency calls is available.

What To Expect When You Call Petaluma Dispatch Center

When you call Petaluma Police, you should expect that your call will be answered quickly and handled efficiently. During business hours, non- emergency calls will be answered by our Front Counter personnel. All other calls, and those made after business hours are answered in the Communications Center . Emergency calls are given priority over non emergency calls, so the 911 lines are considered the highest priority. If you are on a non- emergency call, and a 911 call comes in, you may be put on hold until the dispatcher can determine what the emergency call is and send appropriate personnel.

The dispatcher's job is to obtain certain information from the caller to determine what the problem is and who should be sent. The dispatcher will want to know the following:

  • Where is the problem occurring?
  • What is happening?
  • Is it happening now?
  • Is anyone injured?
  • Is the caller involved?
  • Who is involved and what do they look like?
  • Are there any weapons involved?
  • Has anyone been drinking?
  • If vehicles are involved, what do the look like?
  • If the call is of a burglary or theft, what was taken?

Is important that certain information to be gathered in a short period of time. Asking specific questions is the best way to get the information. Please do not be offended if you are interrupted by the dispatcher.

 

Contact Information

Police Chief,
Steve Hood

Location:
969 Petaluma Blvd. N.
Petaluma, CA 94952
phone:707.778.4370
fax:707.778.4502

Hours:
Admin. Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Emergencies 24/7

Phone Numbers:
Police Reception
707.778.4372
Department Fax
707.778.4476
Administrative Assistant
707.778.4370
Special Operations Lieutenant
707.778.4530
Records Supervisor
707.778.4462
Investigations Unit
707.778.4375
Street Crimes Unit
707.778.4477
Traffic Safety Unit
707.778.4335
Traffic Complaints
(voice mail only) 707.781.1289
Graffiti Hotline
707.776.3606

E-Mail:
Police Department
Police Administration
Traffic/STOP Enforcement
Street Crimes Unit

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