Town of Hanover text logo:  
  river and dog 50x50:   pond and hills 50x50:   moose 50x50:   ferns 50x50:   fall trees 50x50:   daisies 50x50:  
Police Department text logo:
Public Safety Building, 46 Lyme Road, Hanover, NH, 03755 / 603 643-2222 (non-emergency)
 
 
  You are here: Home | Police Department | Communications Division    Search
 
 


Dial 911 for Police Emergency

Nicholas Giaccone, Police Chief
PoliceChief@hanovernh.org



Administration

Detective Division

Patrol Division

Communications Division

Parking Division

"District Court"



 
 

Communications Division

Upper Valley Regional Dispatch Center

The Communications Division is the link between the public and emergency services.

We are a Regional Dispatch Center and serve  23 Towns and 62 agencies, supporting Police, Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Public Works agencies in both Vermont and New Hampshire.  Our coverage area is over 900 square miles and serves approx. 50,000 residents.  In 2009 the Dispatch Center handled 126,947 telephone calls and about 300,000 radio transmissions.  There were 45,518 Incidents including 3,005 calls to 9-1-1.  44,101 calls involved the Police, 3,264 involved Fire units and 3,217 were requests for an Ambulance. 

We acknowledge that no matter why you are calling the Dispatch Center, you probably feel that it is an emergency, to you.  We ask that you remember however that our staff is trying to handle many in-progress calls at one time, quite likely in several different towns, and must assign them a realistic priority to best use the available resources.  For example, a lost pet can be traumatic but it may be assigned a lower priority than an accident with injuries, a theft in progress or many other situations.

We remind you that 911 is for Emergency Use Only, such as:

  • Fires
  • Medical Calls
  • Crimes in Progress
  • Accidents with Injuries
  • and other Life Threatening Incidents

If you need to call the dispatch center for a non-emergency, please call the business line at (603) 643-2222.

Please DO NOT Call 911 for:

  • School Closing Information
    • Information is available on local radio & TV stations
  • Road Conditions
    • in NH (866) 282-7579 or ONLINE
    • in VT (800) ICY-ROAD or ONLINE
    • Dial 511 on your cell phone
  • Power Outages (unless fire is involved or a line is down)
    • PLEASE Call your Power Company
  • Lost or Found Animals
  • Fall Foliage Information
  • Directions to Yard Sales
  • Requests for Burning Permits
    • Call your Local Fire Warden
  • Other Non-Emergency Matters.
 

Burning Permits

The Communications Center DOES NOT issue burning permits. To obtain a permit to burn brush (or cooking/camp fires) you must contact one of the local Fire Wardens in your town. Once you have a permit we ask that you then call the Communications Center. We will document your name, the location you will be burning at and a contact phone number. We take this information to prevent sending the fire department on a reported fire when it is actually a permitted burn.

Each day the State of NH sets a "Fire Danger Level".  Based on that level a Burning Ban may be issued.  In this case no permits will be issued until the ban is lifted.  You may call (866) 643-4737 to hear a recording of the Fire Danger Level each day.

During the winter, when there is SIGNIFICANT (6 inches or more) snow on the ground, a permit is not needed to burn however we still ask that you call Dispatch to notify us so we can document that you are burning and thus prevent sending the fire department.

Once snow coverage reaches less than 6 inches a burning permit is needed. In New Hampshire burning brush is restricted to after 5pm unless there is a steady soaking rainfall currently underway, in which case your Fire Warden may allow you to burn, while it is raining, prior to 5pm.

Seasonal Cooking and Campfire permits are also available.

Link to List of Local Fire Wardens
 

Fire and Burglary Alarm Monitoring
 
The Communications Center monitors hundreds of Municipal and Private alarm systems. The systems range from Municipal Fire Alarms to Burglary Alarms to Panic Alarms to Water and Waste Water Alarms as well as Power Outage and Low Temp Alarms.
 
 

dispcon2: CAD position 1 CAD Position 1 dispcon1: CAD position 2 CAD Position 2

The Communications Staff play a vital role in communicating between the units in the field and the public. We answer all Police Department and Fire Department telephone lines, handle radio communications with all Police units, Fire and Rescue units, and Public Works units as well as speak with citizen that walk into the Police Department.

When you call, you may think that we are wasting time asking you a lot of questions, but the information that we gather can be very important.  Our staff are trained to handle "In-Progress" Police and Fire calls as well as some being Emergency Medical Dispatchers.
 
Some of the questions we normally ask are:
  • Your Name
  • Your Address
  • Phone Number
  • What Happened
  • The Location of the Incident
  • When did it Happened
  • Is Anyone Hurt
  • Are Weapons Involved
  • Descriptions/Location of Suspects or Vehicles Involved
 
The information that you provide can speed up the unit's response in finding your house, apprehending a suspect(s) or even saving a life.

When you call 911 in New Hampshire, the call is answered by the NH Bureau of Emergency Communications in Concord or Laconia.  For our Vermont Towns, your call will normally be answered by VT State Police in Williston, VT and ultimately transfered to us, if you are within our service area. 
 
If the call is medical in nature, the 911 operator will stay on the line with you and give you instructions on how to handle the situation. The caller will also be set up on a conference call with us here in the Communications Center and we will send the appropriate units.

Calls to 911 that are non-medical in nature are re-routed to the Communications Center where we will ask you questions to determine what units need to respond.


Hanover Dispatch Staff - 2009 -- (Photo Credit: Chris Wagoner)
Back row: Sam Provenza, Coordinator E. Douglas Hackett, Tim Goodwin and Kevin LaHaye.  Front row:  Lisa Camarra, Gail Paige, Randy Wagoner, Fred Cummings and David Saturley.
 

Communications Coordinator - E. Douglas Hackett

Communications Officer - Lisa C. Camarra
Communications Officer - Randy G. Wagoner
Communications Officer - David C. Saturley
Communications Officer - Timothy A. Goodwin
Communications Officer - B. Fred Cummings 
Communications Officer - Kevin Lahaye
Communications Officer - Vacant

PT Dispatchers:
Gail Paige
Sam Provenza
Gerard R. Beaudry
Elizabeth Rathburn



(Click on Photo to Enlarge)- Hanover Dispatch Staff - 1986
Back row: Norman Smith and Richard "Duke" Bradley.
Front row:  Randy "Spike" Wagoner, Coordinator Ronald Edson and Kenneth Force


 

We are proud of the Training and Expertise that our staff bring to the Communication Center including members who are Tactical Dispatchers with the Regional Special Operations Unit (SOU)

Some of the other roles that our staff play:

  • Fire Fighters
  • Police Officers
  • DHART Flight Medics
  • Public Information Officers
  • Community Outreach Officers
  • Emergency Medical Technicians
  • Communications Training Officers
  • Law Enforcement Transcriptionists
  • Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Counselors
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance Experts
  • Emergency Management/Homeland Security Specialists

 



Town of Hanover / PO Box 483, Hanover, NH 03755 / 603-643-0742 / www.hanovernh.org / townmgr@hanovernh.org
Hanover Home / Calendar / News / Contact us