Public Safety Communications

A Virginia Office of EMS accredited Emergency Medical Dispatch Communications Center

Background

Powhatan County has been working with the Powhatan Sheriff to move the PSAP to an independent Department on or about July 1, 2017. The County of Powhatan is located in central Virginia and is part of the Richmond Capital Region area.  Powhatan is one of the fastest growing counties in Virginia.  Powhatan County PSAP has 9 Communication Officers, 3 part time COs, two working supervisors, Operations Manager, and a Director. The county PSAP receives and dispatches Fire & Rescue and Law enforcement calls.  Powhatan has a population of nearly 29,000 and receives over 9,000 E911 calls for service and handles over 60,000 total calls. The PSAP staffing objective is 4 Communication Officers or CO’s during peak calls hours (late morning to late evening) and a minimum of 2 for nights.

Discovering Public Safety:

Mission Statement

Powhatan County Department of Public Safety Communications is committed to answering all 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls with professionalism, integrity, and empathy.

Our goal is to provide quality service to our visitors and citizens by being the vital link to Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services.  We are the First of the First Responders and the lifeline between our community and emergency services personnel.

Values

•Saving lives will always take precedence over all other responsibilities.
•Will continue to be a high performance Department in delivering timely and accurate      information to our citizens and public safety responders.
•Will constantly seek to use proven next generation technologies to reduce call processing times, improve the quality of service to our citizens and public safety responders.
•We treat every person with dignity, compassion, and patience.  While we recognize that crisis situations require the highest level of skill and understanding to provide effective communication services, we strive at all time to exhibit that highest level of skill.
•We respect the constitutional rights of all persons and never engage in any activity that violates those rights.
•We consider accuracy and timeliness as two of the highest standards of effective performance.
•We strive to foster a positive work environment within the Department and are committed to the growth and development of each employee.  Each employee recognizes the importance of teamwork and the necessity for the professional support of other employees of the Department in the work environment.
•We value honest and fairness in our dealings with one another. We value and seek to foster mutual respect and confidence within the Department.