The phone never stops ringing here.
In 2009, the total call volume handled by the Peabody Police Department was 223,415. On average, that's 612 calls per day, or one call every 21/2 minutes.
To keep up with the high demand for service, the department recently modernized its dispatch center.
"We've gone from sticky notes and pieces of paper on the wall to the electronic age," Deputy Chief Martin Cohan said.
Using a $100,000 state grant, police purchased a new radio system, computer monitors and lighting. A redesigned floor plan incorporates four new workstations and tall, cushioned and ergonomically correct chairs that roll on new, anti-static flooring.
It's all a long way from 1979, when the center opened. There were no computers; a mechanical fire alarm and Leaps teletype were the extent of the technology dispatchers had at their disposal. It was basically three chairs and a single desk, Cohan said.
More thought was put into a renovation that was completed, except for heating, ventilation and cooling upgrades, by early August.
"We had it designed by people who design control rooms," Cohan said.
Each dispatcher now has his own workstation, and the improved layout has already paid dividends.
"It's much better," Dispatch Supervisor Jamie Dullea said. "You're not right on top of each other bumping into each other. We used to be basically in like a hamster ball."
Within a dispatcher's dedicated workspace, there is also now flexibility. Desks can be raised, for example, so someone could work standing up.
Each workstation has four flat-screen monitors that display a variety of information. A dispatcher can see a name and address attached to a call, where on a map of the city the call originated, and any pertinent history, including details about any prior calls at that address or whether anyone there is a licensed gun holder.
"It makes us more efficient," police Chief Robert Champagne said of the call center.
Vital information is stored and easily accessed on computers, which helps prevent manpower and resources from being wasted, he said.
All of the city's emergency 911 calls go through the Police Department. Last year, dispatchers — at least two work every shift — received 13,211 emergency calls, or about 36 a day.
The Police Department now transfers fire and medical calls to the Fire Department's dispatcher or to Peabody's private ambulance contractor.
But, if need be, the center is now equipped to handle these calls, as well, Champagne said. Eventually it will be able to accept emergency calls made from cell phones, which now go first to the state police and then are rerouted to Peabody, he said.
The investment is a clear signal that Peabody is not interested in participating in the regional dispatch center planned for Middleton. It's a job that should be done in Peabody with people who know the city, according to Cohan.
"There are things in the city that only people who live here are familiar with," he said.
And that familiarity is always available.
"We're the only thing in city government that is open 24 hours a day," Cohan said. "We don't sleep."
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