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1. Am I required to leave my name when reporting a crime?

Callers are only required to leave their name in certain situations. When a caller requests to remain anonymous, Rantoul Police will respect this request. Rantoul Police will never refuse to send help to an anonymous call unless directed to do so by the responsible public safety agency based on the type of call. Rantoul Police will never disclose the identity of a caller to anyone but authorized public safety officials. Your name, address, and/or phone number helps us if we need to contact you to obtain any additional information for the responding units. That being said, the courts will often give more weight to information that is provided by someone who is willing to be identified versus an anonymous tip.

2. Why wasn’t my call dispatched immediately?

METCAD Telecommunicators prioritize each incoming call for service based upon the information collected during the telephone call. A call of an accident, for instance, where the cars are all out of traffic might be assigned a lower priority level. But, an accident with injuries would be assigned a higher priority level, which indicates it is an emergency and a unit would be dispatched even if they may have to be called off of a lower priority call.

3. Why do dispatchers ask so many questions?

METCAD Telecommunicators follow a specific line of questioning to assist with rapid identification of the situation and collection of facts. Their primary concern is to obtain as much information as is possible to expedite the emergency response by the public safety agency.