CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - Champaign County dispatchers are reacting to the chaos of May 31.

On that day hundreds of looters broke into countless stores across the Champaign-area. It all started with a riot at Marketplace Mall.

"Things got pretty crazy, pretty quick," said Brian Peddycourt, a 911 call-taker and dispatcher for 21 years. He said May 31 was a day he will never forget. 

Peddycourt was the lead dispatcher that Sunday. It was his duty to make sure every officer in the field knew what was going on. "You have to make sure that they have the right help, that they have and rely on the coworkers that they have out there helping them and getting the right people to the right spots," said Peddycourt.

“You have to make sure that they have the right help that they have and rely on the coworkers that they have out there helping them and getting the right people to the right spots,” Peddycourt said.

Peddycourt was not alone in his efforts to protect the city. The shift of five or six people quickly turned into ten people. All those people were taking calls, dispatching crews, and monitoring the men and women on the front lines.

"You divide and conquer.,” Betsy Smith, METCAD Operation’s Director, said “That is what you do."

Smith, who was not working at the time of the riots ended up going into the dispatcher center to help answer phones. Some of those calls were unrelated to the looting and violence taking place.

"You can only handle one phone call,” Smith said. “You prioritize what you have in front of you and you make sure any officer safety information goes out as quickly as possible."

The job Smith and Peddycourt do is critical to public safety, and it comes with its own level of stress.

"We deal with what we have to deal with first while it goes on, and then we can fall apart later if we need to,” Smith said.

"It was hectic,” Peddycourt said. “It was busy, but everyone did it together, did the team work together."

The crews at METCAD had officers from the DNR, Champaign, Urbana, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, and Illinois State Police to keep track off. Smith told WAND News that on an average day, METCAD gets about 35 to 40 calls an hour. On the day of the rights, during the 8;00 p.m. hour, they had close to 200 calls.