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Our dispatchers are really polite

1K views 21 replies 17 participants last post by  Yucca-Man 
#1 ·
Every evening when I call in 10-42 (off duty) I get the same message from one of our dispatchers-

"Thank you sir have a good evening"

This particular dispatcher works the same days I do so I always interact with him, amazingly calm on the radio and always checks on us when we are on a potentially bad call.

Sometimes it's nice to know someone else is watching your back and will send help if he feels there is a problem. Which has come in handy on more than one occasion when I was unable to get to my mic for whatever reason.

Dispatchers are sometimes under appreciated.
 
#2 ·
A good dispatcher is truly a gift from the gods.
I've worked with great ones...and I've worked with...how shall I phrase it...."not so great ones".
Congrats on your jewel. Give him an "attaboy" whenever you can.
<Padre>
 
#4 · (Edited)
Dispatchers are always under appreciated.....

And you're right, a good communications operator is gold. We have 9 radio channels plus another couple for fire/ems , and another 15 or so people on phone intake; there are 30-ish communications operators working on a shift and they all rotate, a dew hours on each channel or on intake to break their day up a bit..... and while most of them are good, there are a few who are phenomenal , good enough that they will start a second unit to you just by the sound of your voice before you even ask .....Those operators , they are truly our lifeline.

I could not do their job, keeping track of so many people at once, watching 8 different screens , having to stay calm and focused no matter what is going out there, unable to do anything to affect the situation in a hands-on way....As stressful as our jobs can be, at least we have the ability to take some control over what is happening since we are physically there; I cannot imagine how hard it is for the operators on the radio when something bad is happening and they can only hear it and hope the guys out here are OK.....
 
#5 ·
Here, they run the spectrum from incredible to how-do-you-dress-yourself, and there's a fair mix of both.

We have one guy that, although he makes corny comments regarding almost every call, never misses a thing and has the info and more before you ask for it. He's golden.

The management (county run center) can often leave alot to be desired, however.

I was a dispatcher for 4 years, starting when I was a senior in HS, so my expectations are high.

On a tangent, we just went to an encrypted, digital P25 700mhz system which is incredible. No more dead spots all over and losing contact a few miles out of town.
 
#21 ·
Here, they run the spectrum from incredible to how-do-you-dress-yourself, and there's a fair mix of both.

We have one guy that, although he makes corny comments regarding almost every call, never misses a thing and has the info and more before you ask for it. He's golden.

The management (county run center) can often leave alot to be desired, however.

I was a dispatcher for 4 years, starting when I was a senior in HS, so my expectations are high.

On a tangent, we just went to an encrypted, digital P25 700mhz system which is incredible. No more dead spots all over and losing contact a few miles out of town.
I'm hoping and praying we go that route for our radios.

Was on the very tip of our jurisdiction and couldn't get out over my portable.
 
#6 ·
I wrapped up my 7 1/2 year dispatch career last month when I went full time at my current cop job. After spending that time listening to a neighboring jurisdiction's officers just be aholes to their dispatchers on a regular basis , I was surprised they get people to stay. I always said if we got absorbed by them it would be my last day.
Of course that agency has kind of a rep for being full of themselves. Lol.

Going to my current agency which is dispatched by the county and another I work at part time dispatched by a different county, I was amazed at how pleasant the interactions were in those two areas between officers and dispatch. Almost like everyone is on the same team. ;)
The dispatchers for my current full time job are awesome!
 
#7 ·
I like all of our dispatchers, a couple are former officers so they are good at getting us what we need before we ask, but it's the ones that are calm no matter what is happening that amaze me.
I've sat in dispatch to observe and it's a level of chaos that I know I couldn't do.

It takes special people to listen to those calls and not be able to do anything but talk, try to give instructions, get the right units enroute to people in those situations and hope those of us responding get there in time. That would kill me.
 
#8 ·
My daughter is a County dispatcher, and I can tell you she is as concerned for your safety and well being as you are. She has a couple of awards for handling particularly bad situations, and credits the First Responders for their good resolution, she says she is just there for your support. Afterwards, she does worry about you, even though she can't let on over the air.
 
#9 ·
I have to guess there are more dispatchers that became decent officers than there are officers who became decent dispatchers. A really good platoon commander usually knows where most of his people are and has some sort of idea what they are doing. Maybe not at meal time or when he is doing annual evaluation. A semi decent dispatcher knows where all 44 people who are on calls at that instant are and has a pretty good idea of where the other 25 or so people from the county and two municipalities who are not on calls are, and she can often predict who is going to need what resources before they even arrive. And she knows at least the big calls in the two adjacent districts in case they end up needing help or resources. And she lets the adjacent dispatchers know what her big calls are so they can be ready too. And knows where the big crash is on the interstate and that the really big municipality twenty miles away is sending some fire trucks to cover the smaller municipality because in addition to hearing everything on the main talk group and most of the stuff on the talk group that is "not monitored" and used for unit to unit traffic, she is also listening in on Police Emergency which she has patched with 8 Call 90.

And at 5 am the sworn supervisor goes over to her console and yells at her to put the phone away so she won't be distracted when she was texting home to make sure he was going to remember to get the kids up for school as she is into hour 15 of running dispatch channel, listening to most of what goes on on three others, and has successfully manipulated the two keyboards and two mouses that control her two computers displayed on six screens. Or eight.

Meanwhile a guy on the road is getting ready to raise his sergeant because he is being asked to clear to back up someone on alarm call and he is not yet finished with the crash report and he really can't do two things at once.

:supergrin:
 
#12 ·
We have had some outstanding dispatchers. They can handle the call volume, keep everything straightened out when it's hectic, anticipate what we'll need and have the info before we ask for it, and maintain a friendly, even voice.

Of course, some are the opposite. A few years back, an adjacent county started to contract with our consolidated countywide dispatch for their services. Our center absorbed their dispatchers. Some of them did not survive the prospecting process. They went from handling two to three SO units that averaged six or seven calls per shift to handlng eight to 10 (or up to 16 during the swings/graves overlap) plus a few gang task force units, that averaged 15 to 20 calls per shift, and a great deal more in-progress incidents than happened at their previous job. If they were working the pod for CACop's shop, they weren't handling as many units, but had up to double the workload for each unit, with probably 90% of the calls being in-progress incidents, many of them felonies.

Unlike Enos Strate going to LAPD, it did not work well for the most part.

I went out of my way to show dispatch that we apprciate and value them, and taught trainees that they had to do the same and that discourtesy toward dispatchers would not be tolerated.
 
#14 ·
Always be nice to dispatchers. If not they can make life miserable for you.

I always try to bring them a pizza every few months to stay on their good side

Occasionally I visit her and sit in dispatch for a while. I always bring donuts and sweet rolls. I get all kinds of heat from the women that are watching their weight. I'm a "bad" boy.
 
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#15 ·
1982 hot summer night in a busy division; 35 priority calls (shootings and stabbings in progress, robberies in progress, etc) backed up with over 100 minor in the queue. Our dispatcher advises all units to stand by. Witnesses said he ripped the CRT (big TV type monitor for you young'uns) out of his cubicle and walked over to the window. He proceeded to throw said CRT out the window, which was, of course, sealed.

He did not return.
 
#19 ·
In my opinion, dispatchers have the toughest job in the LE field. When I work desk and have to send the guys on the road to a priority or in progress call, it absolutley kills me that I am unable to leave station to go back them up and deal with the situation. I like being with the guys on every "dangerous" incident. Dispatchers have to sit tight and remain calm and ensure everybody is getting checked on. They have to gather intel for us. They have to make phone calls for us because the majority of the county I work has limited or zero cell coverage. We currently have 5 dispatchers working out of my station. They are all good. Two of them are exceptional. God bless all of them.
 
#20 ·
I got to man dispatch at a smaller city to give dispatch ( singular) a break. I had worked in larger city during college so this was breeze. 4 squads on road, Fire, EMS on call only.
My brother was working a Volenteer FD a in sub of Mlps/St Paul.
I was there visiting. (He was only person in station). Fire call came, I watch him gather info, pagers..... Then phone call RE call, then more phone calls so I get to help.
I had been there a hr easy. Dead quiet. Now everyone calling. ( I got handed,delt with junk, info calls of course)

One issue with County dispatch, paying attention to other depts...

Major accident. Basically mass Casulity. It's the Ambulance meeting with EMS instructors to do hands on training, CU...
So we had on call for prime, Director chose crew for 2nd. Ride share for others. ( swing by garage grab extra O2 units, gear..). We didn't get call. Other depts called. Nothing.
We wanted to landline dispatch with offer. Director said no. So we TRIED to have training.

Later we learn dispatch heard on our channel we had call. Didn't hear we were back in service. So didn't want to take our 2nd rig.

Week later owner of bus company inspected scene. Daytime WITH State Patrol unit. Lights, etc

Car lost control, went in median and killed him.
 
#22 ·
We have one guy that, although he makes corny comments regarding almost every call, never misses a thing and has the info and more before you ask for it. He's golden.
That's better than the guy who makes corny comments and thinks we actually like listening to him drone - he's the only one who won't status check units on a call...instead he likes to ask "how are we doing out there?" :grr

I was a dispatcher for 4 years, starting when I was a senior in HS, so my expectations are high.
Maybe that's part of why I can't stand it - I was on the other side of the mic for eight years, including supervising. I expect my dispatchers to have some semblance of a clue about where the responding units are, where they're coming from, and what the calls on the screen are. Got sent to a potential non-custodial kidnapping at a school yesterday. Dispatcher created an entirely new call for us and provided minimal updates. I'm probably going to hear about it later, but at one point while enroute, I called out the dispatcher by asking if "this call" was related to the one in pending since they were at the same location. Dispatcher responded by closing both calls somehow. Two self-initiated calls yesterday put me in entirely different jurisdictions because dispatcher wasn't paying attention. Thankfully excrement did not hit the rotating air-movement device before I could call them out (again) and correct the location.

But - there are also quite a few good ones. They know the voices they are hearing and can anticipate what we need before we have to ask. :thumbsup:
 
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