History of the Hanover ECC

Hanover's First Emergency Communications Center

In 1958, a five-man committee was appointed by the Town Moderator to study establishing an Emergency Communications Center at the Town Hall. Joseph Ingle, Andrew Baker, George Currie, Avito Dicicco, and Henry Newcomb were named. At the November 28, 1960 Special Town Meeting, the Town voted and appropriated from available funds the sum of $4522.20 to establish and equip the Emergency Center.

On May 26, 1961, at 8:00 AM, the Emergency Center became functional and has been manned 24 hours a day since that time. In July 1962, a local government base station was added to the Center, serving mobile units of the water and highway departments.

In 1962, the Center transacted 25,376 calls serving the Hanover Police Department, Hanover Fire Department, and the Visiting Nurse. A total of 63,000 radio and telephone messages were handled annually at the Communications Center.

By 1973, the Emergency Communications Center Committee consisted of three members Henry Newcomb, one of the founding members of the committee in 1958, Robert Coburn, and John Thompson. The Communications Center also employed nine dispatchers, some of whom started with the original opening of the Center.

Transition to the Regional Old Colony Communications Center

On June 30, 2021, at 10:09 am, Hanover’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC), which has provided dispatching/911 services for the Town of Hanover, was officially decommissioned and this service was transferred to the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (ROCCC), a department of the Town of Duxbury. Hanover’s ECC has served this community since the early 1960’s when it was housed in a small corner room at Hanover Town Hall utilizing mechanical switchboards, typewriters, and outside siren alerts, and evolved and expanded over the years as demands increased and technological improvements were implemented.

In 2019, with leadership coming from Hanover Police Chief Larry Sweeney and Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard, the Town of Hanover engaged the Collins Center (UMASS-Boston) to evaluate Hanover’s options for the future of this fundamental service. The report from The Collins Center, completed in March 2020, pointed the arrow directly to The ROCCC as the best option for the Town of Hanover. Over the course of the past 15 months, the transition to the ROCCC was initiated, approved, and completed.

The transition will benefit the Town of Hanover from fiscal and service delivery perspectives by allowing us to tap into a greater economy of scale provided by the ROCCC, through their leadership team, staff, and resources now and in the future.

The Town of Hanover wants to recognize and thank both past and present dispatch employees (dating back to the 1960s) for 60 years of dedicated service and the wonderful job they did for this community keeping us safe.

Written by Joe Colangelo, Hanover Town Manager