The Guide to Calling 9-1-1: A Life Saving Pamphlet

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

The Indiana General Assembly mandated that each of Indiana’s 92 counties consolidate their E-9-1-1 programs into no more than two Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) by January 1, 2015. A PSAP is the telephonic point at which a 9-1-1 emergency call is first answered. Lake County, Indiana has 7 cities, 12 towns and an unincorporated area. Out of the 20 political jurisdictions, 18 had PSAPs. The State mandate presented little problem to the overwhelming number of Indiana counties. Over 60% of counties had established no more than 2 PSAPs. The largest merge, other than Lake County was 6 PSAPs. Lake County with a population of 496,000, faced the arduous task of merging 18 PSAPs into no more than 2 PSAPs. Not all of Lake County 18 PSAPs agreed to merge into one. The merger that resulted produced two PSAPs. One services two municipalities and the second services the remaining 16 political jurisdictions. The two PSAPs operate separately. The PSAP referred to as the Lake County E-9-1-1 Center encompasses 91.7% of the county’s population and is located in the county seat of Crown Point, Indiana. The other PSAP is located in Schererville, Indiana. The establishment of two PSAPs created an element of confusion for some residents in the county. It was evident that residents needed to be educated about the merger in Lake County. This was accomplished by the preparation of “The Guide to Calling 9-1-1”. The guide was distributed throughout all municipal government locations including police and fire stations and county libraries. It was also printed in its entirety by a local newspaper with countywide coverage. Christine Cid, a Lake County Councilwoman, developed the idea for “The Guide to Calling 9-1-1”. She provided leadership for its completion and monitored its production and distribution.