Hartford, Wi – On Monday, February 19, 2024, City of Hartford dispatching services will be fully merged with Washington County dispatch and the former emergency communications center, now the administrative front office, will have new hours.
Staff will be available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. During those hours, the non-emergency line 262-673-2600 and a Police Support Specialist will be available to assist you.
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If they are on another line, you may be routed to the auto attendant. You can still walk into the Hartford Police Department lobby and talk to a Police Support Specialist in person during normal business hours.
After hours, whether you call the non-emergency line 262-673-2600 or walk into our lobby and pick up the phone, you will be routed to the auto attendant to choose the option of where you would like to be directed.
If you are calling for an emergency, you will be directed to hang up and immediately dial 9-1-1. If it is a non-emergency, you will be given the option of being forwarded immediately to the Washington County dispatch center where a dispatcher will send a Hartford officer to assist you.
Just because you are calling and speaking with a dispatcher from the Washington County dispatch center does not mean they are going to send a Washington County deputy instead of a Hartford officer to assist. Hartford resources whether police, fire, or EMS will still be dispatched to your call for service.
Keep in mind, currently when you call 9-1-1 from your cell phone, the Washington County dispatch answers your call. If you are calling about an emergency in the City of Hartford, your call is transferred to the Hartford emergency communications center and we dispatch police, fire, and/or EMS services.
This will change.
Instead of Washington County dispatch transferring the call to Hartford, they will immediately dispatch Hartford emergency services (police, fire, EMS) to the call, thereby shortening the time emergency services will respond.
Currently if you call 9-1-1 from a landline, the call will be answered by the Hartford emergency communications center.
On Monday, the Washington County dispatch center will be answering those landline emergency calls as well, and dispatching emergency services. The only difference is another agency, other than Hartford, is answering the call.
The caller will still be communicating with a trained professional who will be able to assist them.
A tremendous amount of effort and collaboration between the Hartford Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office was necessary to ensure a transition like this was, and continues to be, successful. This was no small undertaking.
It is an understatement to say I appreciate the efforts of staff from both agencies who are working to ensure the continuity of operations, and the continued delivery of professional services to the City of Hartford. We will continue to notify the public of other changes that may relate to this transition as this is still a work in progress until it comes to fruition.
A huge thank you goes out to the Hartford Police Department dispatchers, now and over the years, who have provided professional services to the Hartford community for well over 60 years. Your amazing efforts have protected this community by getting help exactly where it needed to be as quickly as possible. I have a tremendous amount of respect for what you do each and every day.
Chief Scott MacFarlan
