A few years ago, the State of Illinois required areas under a certain population to merge their 911 Dispatch Centers and Henderson County merged with Hancock County, which Henderson County Sheriff Matt Link says has greatly improved the county’s 911 system:
“Basically, whenever you call 911 from a landline or cell phone, it rings into Hancock County. Now Hancock County, their dispatchers are our dispatchers. They have every capability to do what our dispatchers have in Oquawka, they can talk on the radio, they can talk on the phone, and they can page people. The nice thing about having the joint 911 with them is they have the actual 911 system. I am also on the 911 Board and we just upgraded to the “next gen 911.” So, when you call, especially off a cell phone, that “next gen 911” is going to pinpoint you within five meters of your location.”
