Communications Mission

Operations of the Communications Center is a very important function of the Sheriff’s Office, both for the members of the department and for the other law enforcement and public safety agencies and organizations that are dependent on the Center for communications and Enhanced 911 services.

It is the responsibility of the Communications Center staff to provide prompt professional, courteous, calm, and effective communications services to the public and our user agencies.

Our Public and User Agencies

We serve a population of approximately 12,000 residents in Pend Oreille County. With our beautiful lakes and landscapes, however, we are a hotspot for campers, boaters, hunters, fisherman, hikers, and photographers from all over the country. We cover a total of 1,425 square miles of which 1,400 square miles of it is land and 25 square miles of it is water.

We serve the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Newport, and the towns of Usk, Cusick, Ione, Metaline, and Metaline Falls. We also serve Kalispel Tribal Police and the Kalispel Fire Department. We answer fire and emergency medical calls for ten fire districts, most of which are manned by volunteers. We also dispatch for two ambulance agencies, Newport Ambulance which covers the south end of the county, and Fire District 2 which covers the north end of the county. We work closely with Washington State Patrol, Fish and Game, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Natural Resources.

Our Staff

We currently employ 10 full time communications officers. They are responsible for answering all call, both 911 emergency calls and non-emergency calls for the Sheriff’s Office.