Our volunteer work with the police department allowed me another new adventure (in addition to my polygraph). As part of our volunteer training, we are required to spend 4 hours observing the police dispatch process. This includes the intake of 911 calls and the subsequent dispatching of police and/or fire personnel to respond. At the advice of the volunteer coordinator, I chose a Friday evening, hoping I would catch some good action.
Obviously staffed 24/7, the police operations center employs roughly 15 - 20 people. These are broken down into the areas of 911 intake, fire dispatch, police dispatch and "city-wide." I had the opportunity to sit with an operator at each division.
911 was interesting, but honestly it was a little bit of a disappointment, only because the vast majority of calls we received last night were accidental cell phone 911 calls. The dispatchers I sat with said that about 10-20% of their calls are accidental cell phone calls, but last night the rate I observed (for the particular dispatchers I was with, not the entire center) was honestly closer to 60-70%. While I would be listening in on the operator trying to get a response from the open line on the other end, I could hear the other dispatchers in the room taking calls about accidents, attempted suicides. etc. However, it was really fascinating to see all the information that is at the fingertips of the 911 dispatchers. As soon as they enter the address of the call, the location pops up on a map, the proper police substation is identified and the call details are automatically forwarded to the police or fire dispatch section of the operations center. I did hear a couple distressing calls, and I certainly admire the coolness and calmness of the operators who sit there night after night and interact with people facing life and death situations. Shortly before I arrived, an 11 month child had fallen out of a two story window and died. It did weigh heavy on the hearts of everyone in the center, but this is the type of stuff they have to deal with daily and just keep on doing their jobs in spite of it--tough stuff.
After sitting with 911, I went to fire dispatch. It was the slowest of all the positions. This person doesn't really have to make any decisions, only relay information. When a 911 call is identified that requires fire response, the computer system identifies which vehicle from which station should be dispatched. The dispatcher relays the information and keeps tab on where all of the fire assets in the city are at any given time.
My next observation area was police dispatch. Wow. To say those dispatchers are busy just doesn't do their jobs justice. I was in awe of all the information they juggle. At any given time they are looking at a list of where all their repsective (the city is broken down into different areas) police cars are, what they're doing (arriving at a call, working a call, writing reports, available, etc) and what time they get off shift. At the same time they are looking at all the 911 reports in their region and deciding who to send to which, and which ones can wait for an available officer. They are in costant voice and instant messaging contact with all the officers. They update the 911 records as new information arrives (police arrived at such and such a time, police closed the incident, etc), they run license plates for the officers, etc, etc. Their fingers were just flying at the keyboard, and the computer screens changed so fast I could barely keep tabs on what I was observing. I can't imagine working 8 hours at such a constantly busy pace. They simply have no down time. In order to go to the bathroom, they have to have a floater come take over their terminal. That's their only slow time.
After police dispatch I sat at the position called "city-wide." This dispatcher is sort of an administrative/etc. type of position. It covers calls for the entire city (hence the name) and addresses any needs that would be too time consuming for the dispatchers or 911 takers. For example, if a tow truck is needed at an accident scene, the city-wide dispatcher would contact the tow truck company. Last night there was a report of animal abuse. The police dispatcher sent police officers to the scene, but city-wide called the humane society to send out an investigator. It was certainly a much slower pace than the regular dispatch jobs, but it was sort of interesting because of the contact across a wide variety of calls.
My four hours just flew by. The whole experience was very interesting, and I have a great deal of respect for everyone in the center (by the way, the all rotate through all the positions). It would certainly be a job that would would never be dull. In my short time there I observed a wide variety of incidents: the tragic death of the baby, several accidents, several suicide attempts, a lost girl (quickly found safe), people apparently locked inside a store, lots of drunk and disorderlies, a man riding down the streets downtown on a bicycle while verbally threatening people, a man beating his dogs, a man calling to report his wife had been missing all day, etc, etc.
The technology involved the whole process was extremely impressive. I found myself wondering how all of this was accomplished 50 years ago. In large cities the process must have been so labor-intensive and slow. If, through whatever channels, you ever get the opportunity to observe a dispatch center, I would highly recommend it. You will be impressed.
