Dispatch Center

Service Area

The Nicollet County Dispatch Center is located in the Nicollet County Law Enforcement Center. The Dispatch Center is the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for 911 calls placed in Nicollet County. Our center operates 24 hours a day with the responsibility of:

  • Answering an average of 700 911 calls per month
  • Answering non-emergency calls for service
  • Dispatching for:
    • Five Fire Departments:
      • Courtland FD
      • Lafayette FD
      • Nicollet FD
      • North Mankato FD
      • St Peter FD
    • Nicollet County Sheriff's Office
    • North Mankato Police Department
    • One ambulance service:
      • Lafayette Ambulance

When to Call 911

Dial 911 to:

  • Report a crime in progress
  • Report a fire
  • Report a serious situation which requires a police officer at the scene (assaults, burglaries, domestic disputes, etc.)
  • Report suspicious / criminal activity (alarms, shots fired, shouts for help, sounds of glass breaking, unfamiliar person carrying items from a house, etc.)
  • Summons an ambulance for medical assistance

Important things to know when calling 911:

  • Answer the dispatcher's questions
  • Give the location. If possible, provide the full street address of where the problem is occurring, include apartment number. If you don't know the address, provide an intersection or landmark
  • State the problem/what happened
  • Stay on the line until the operator terminates the call. Help can be sent while you talk
  • Stay calm
  • Be patient

When Not to Call 911

Please do not dial 911 to:

  • Ask for a telephone number
  • Ask for directions
  • Check road conditions
  • Check for weather conditions or storm updates
  • Find out if someone is in jail

The non-emergency number for the Nicollet County Sheriff's Office is 507-931-1570. Callers may dial the non-emergency number to report situations that are not an emergency, but may still require police attention.

Calling 911 from a Mobile Device

Calls made from your cellular phone are more complicated than the average citizen may realize. Cell phone calls are routed to a 911 PSAP based off of the cell phone tower your signal is directed to as well as the amount of resources available on that tower. It is very common for calls to bounce between several towers without your knowledge before the call even rings into a 911 PSAP because the tower's resources are all in use or the tower your call is routing from is located in another city or county's jurisdiction.

Callers must keep in mind that the 911 operator that picks up the phone may not be located in the city or county they are calling from and call transferring may be necessary in order to make a report to the appropriate jurisdiction. Please be patient with the process. Also, 911 calls from cell phones do not always provide caller locations or phone numbers so as always you will need to provide your name, location, and cell phone number to the 911 operator.