The 9-1-1 system is based on a nationally approved emergency reporting program designed to speed the response of public safety agencies and to reduce the delay caused by citizens who were trying to determine the proper ten digit phone number to dial to report an incident. Today, most of Massachusetts is serviced by some type of 9-1-1 system.

The Plainville Police Department operates a 9-1-1 Center that receives calls from citizens who live inside the town limits of Plainville. This Center dispatches the Plainville Fire Department, the Plainville Police Department and is also the town's coordination center for disasters.

The 9-1-1 system is operated using fees that are charged to residential and business telephone customers. In Norfolk County, each telephone subscriber pays fifty cents a month on their telephone bill to maintain the 9-1-1 system. When a caller dials 9-1-1, special computers look up customer information and display it instantly at the 9-1-1 Operator's work station. Even if the caller can't speak, the computer will show the name, telephone number, and address assigned to that phone. Although this information is displayed each time the caller dials 9-1-1, the emergency operator is trained to always ask you for your address. This is to verify that the computer's information is correct and to make sure that you are calling from the location that needs assistance. Many times a citizen will go to another location to report an emergency or will call a relative or friend who will then call for public safety assistance.

The 9-1-1 System is there to assist citizens with any type of emergency call including law enforcement, ambulances, firefighting, poison control, marine patrol, forestry, and the crisis center.

More information on the 9-1-1 Center is available by contacting:

Chief  James T. Alfred
Plainville Police Department
157 South Street
Plainville, MA 02762
Phone: (508) 695-7115
Fax: (508) 643-0227