Communications – 911
Remember, 911 is for EMERGENCY calls only. By calling 911 for non-emergencies, you might be occupying a line that someone with a true emergency needs!
When calling 911, be sure to speak slowly and clearly. The 911 Operator will ask you several questions; give as much specific information as possible. Stay on the line until the 911 Operator tells you that you may hang up.
The Renville County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center is housed within the Sheriff’s Office in Olivia, MN. This state-of-the-art component of the Sheriff’s Office is the heart of emergency services in Renville County.
The Dispatch Center is staffed 24 hours a day with professional dispatchers, who dispatch calls not only for the Sheriff’s Office, but all emergency services within Renville County, including:
- Five police departments
- Ten fire departments
- Five ambulance services
- Five medical response units (first responder groups)
911 emergency calls are received from both land line and cellular callers. Calls from cell phones make up about 95% of Renville County’s 911 call volume.
Dispatchers take information from callers and dispatch the appropriate agencies and personnel to handle any situation that might arise.
The dispatchers at the Renville County Sheriff’s Office are relied upon to gather all necessary information for the responding personnel. That information might be the conditions of medical patients, threatened structures at a fire scene or the whereabouts of a dangerous suspect at a law enforcement call. Our dispatchers are truly the “first on the scene” of any emergency.
Using the latest technology, our dispatchers are almost always able to tell where a 911 call is coming from, even without speaking to the person making the call. Computers are able to tell the dispatcher what telephone number the 911 call is coming from and also have electronic maps instantly provided for them. Even for cellular callers, in most cases, our dispatchers are able to tell exactly where that caller is in the county.