Vienna state control center: 550,000 police emergency calls since the beginning of the year

The state control center (LLZ) is the linchpin of police operations. Emergency calls 133 and 112 are received here, prioritized and assigned to patrol officers via police radio. In addition, the dispatchers (“radio announcers”) also coordinate all the forces deployed during larger operations and searches. Since the beginning of the year, LLZ Vienna has answered more than half a million emergency calls.

“State control centers ensure communication and enable central control of police operations using the latest technology,” emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner during a visit to the Vienna state control center.

Control center of the security executive

For comparison: In 2023, the approximately 70 police officers at the LLZ processed more than 1,270,000 emergency calls, which led to more than 471,000 operations.

The number 133 (or 112) is a hotline for police emergencies (robbery, theft, etc.), but also a contact number for the police for less serious incidents, such as noise, arguments, traffic accidents or many other public problems. Medical emergencies are also dispatched by the LLZ, which has already saved hundreds of lives (keyword: police defibrillator).

“The police officers in the state control centers do professional work every day for people who are in emergency situations. This task not only requires great commitment, but above all prudence and overview,” emphasized Karner.

Background: Modern deployment disposition of the LLZ

Following the example of the LLZ Vienna, a centralized and optimized deployment allocation was carried out for all other federal states in the “New control center” project in 2021. Every year, around 2.4 million emergency calls are received by the Austrian state control centers via the emergency numbers 133 and 112. The Austrian LLZ are recognized throughout Europe and were also the first to be ISO certified.

The core of receiving emergency calls and scheduling operations is the “Operations Control and Communication System” (ELKOS). This system was integrated into the critical communications infrastructure of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Police and has interfaces to systems such as digital radio or geoinformation systems.

See also: https://www.bmi.gv.at/magazin/2021_09_10/Einsatzleit_und_Kommunikationssystem_II.aspx