About Us

The City of Seattle's newly established Community Safety Communications Center (CSCC) is the primary Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for 911 emergency calls placed within the city of Seattle. Calls requiring a fire or medical response are conferenced with Seattle Fire Department & Medic One for additional screening. The CSCC handles approximately 900,000 calls per year and is staffed 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.  

In May of 2021, Seattle City Council voted 7-0 to move 911 dispatch out of the Seattle Police Department. On June 1, 2021, 911 calls became the responsibility of the CSCC.

Call Processing

When you call 911, a CSCC Communications Dispatcher, also known as a Call Taker, evaluates your call and determines what type of response is required. The Call Taker enters your call information into the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system which routes your call to the appropriate Seattle Police sector for deployment. Calls requiring a fire or medical response are conferenced with Seattle Fire Department and Medic One for deployment and pre-arrival medical instructions.  

Dispatch

Another CSCC Communications Dispatcher, also known as a Radio Dispatcher, communicates to First Responders in the field.  When a call is entered into the CAD system, the Radio Dispatcher is immediately notified of the incoming call and dispatches available resources. The Radio Dispatcher maintains contact with units in the field and coordinates the response of specialty units such as K9., SWAT, Mutual Aid Air Support, and Detectives.

The CSCC Mission

The mission of the CSCC is to quickly and professionally answer all requests for emergency services for the City of Seattle; to provide professional emergency dispatch, notification, and communication services for the City of Seattle; and to facilitate reporting of minor incidents via telephone and online systems.  

The priorities of the CSCC are:  

1. Emergencies. Our primary focus is to quickly answer emergency requests for service, regardless of how they are received, properly screen those requests, route them to the correct dispatch center, and effectively dispatch resources to address the emergency.
2. Notifications and Department Communications. We operate paging and communications systems notifying CSCC and Seattle Police Department employees of mission specific information on a 24/7/365 basis, and to notify the public of specific emergencies and conditions.    
3. Non-Emergencies.  We answer non-emergency calls and route them for dispatch if appropriate.  This page describes non-emergency call processing.
4. Reports.  We take police reports when appropriate via telephone or assist with referral to the Seattle Police online crime reporting system.