There When You Need Them - Walker County Emergency 911 Center

By: Austin Crafton

If you're lucky, you'll never have to reach out to them. But Walker County's Emergency 911 Dispatch Center is here to serve all 805 square miles of their jurisdiction. Between the county's 26 fire departments, eight law enforcement agencies and Regional Paramedics Services, it takes a coordinated and informed effort by leader Roger Wilson to make sure the right help goes to the right people when they need it most. 

"I've been here since 1993. I have a staff of 15 people overall and it takes a great deal of teamwork here to make this thing work. We're constantly working with the agencies out in the communities to find what we can do better." 

But that's not all, besides being present in the community - Wilson also maintains the dispatch center in top-notch form and pushes new boundaries. "We update our equipment every two to three years because the technology is simply changing so fast at this point. We have a lot of other agencies come in and watch the way we do things here. When 'Text 911' first came into focus, we were one of the first counties in the state of Alabama to develop that."

The control center of Walker County 911. 

"Text 911" has really come into play across the country in the past year or so. It allows anyone in distress to simply send a message as you would to a friend. Wilson and veteran dispatcher Terry Armstrong both maintain that while traditional calls are always preferable, the text feature allows for people that may not always be able to speak to ask for help. "We prefer the voice calls, for sure. That allows us to listen in and really get a feel for what may be going on. But texting has made things easier for our hearing-impaired callers, they can simply text now. You may also have someone in trouble that can't simply talk on the phone." said Armstrong. 

The critical thing that both Wilson and Armstrong emphasized was that whether you call or text 911, you need to disclose your location immediately. Once your location has been established they can start narrowing down which agencies to coordinate with. The cell phones that most callers use today do not give your location right away, compared to a traditional landline

Wilson also said adamantly, "Please, when you call, just listen to the questions the dispatcher has for you. They are asking them for a reason. The more you cooperate, the better we will be able to serve you." 

If you'd like to stay up to date with Walker County 911, visit and like their Facebook page here.