Dispatchers Turned Cops?

[CCordova]

How do you guys feel about them? I know in my area we have at least 6 people who transferred from dispatch, anywhere from the SO to Juv DT to Highway. There's a State Trooper that does a lot of tech support work. As well as one that is now a seargent

My main question is do you like dispatchers in general and would you rather have them in the dispatch center or on the streets eventually? I currently work as a dispatcher and want to get out on Highway as soon as possible. I know it also depends..

[marinepilot]

Well, you kind of answered your question in your last statement "it depends." My agency has quite a few dispatchers who've put themselves through the academy and are now out on the street, and of all the ones I know, they are all really great Deputies. I didn't know any of them as dispatchers for any length of time tho, so I can't say if they were great there, but I would imagine they were as their attitude and work ethic leads me to believe they'd be good at whatever they put their mind to.

Which leads me to say that there are some dispatchers now that I hope and pray stay in the dispatch office. And for what it's worth, I don't hear them talking about coming out to the road. They are terrific dispatchers and mainly I would miss them being on the other side of the radio, but it's also partly because I can't see them getting out with people in real life vs. on the phone.

So, there's no cookie-cutter answer. It's gonna depend, basically on the attitude, work ethic, and character of the dispatcher as to whether or not they'll make a good LEO.

[CCordova]

Definitely.. As soon as I got done typing this I thought.."Well, depends"

Can you guys tell from the other side of the radio if a Dispatcher is in it for the sole purpose of Dispatch or waiting to get out on the road. I've been told I sound more like an officer even on their end of the radio.

[greg72982]

To be honest I don't pay much attention to ours unless they are being assholes. The way our system (county 911) works is you have a few people that are calltakers who answer the phones and send the call info to the dispatcher of the respective district. They then read whatever the call says on the screen so there isn't much you can tell. The info is usually bare bones and it takes and act of Congress to get more.

I think how good of a cop someone is depends more on them, then what they did prior. That said a dispatcher would have some type of edge over an average Joe just out of the academy.

I befriended a few dispatchers on Facebook but I don't know any of them well enough to determine how they would be as a cop, and here being a dispatcher is a better job than being a part time cop (better pay, county bennies, holiday pay etc.), which is what I am and the way most guys start out here.

[Kimble]

Can you guys tell from the other side of the radio if a Dispatcher is in it for the sole purpose of Dispatch or waiting to get out on the road. I've been told I sound more like an officer even on their end of the radio.

Every department I've worked had dispatchers working at the department's communications division and I've had face time with them, so they weren't a faceless voice on the end of the radio (of course a regional communications center like Greg described would be very different). Usually if a dispatcher has an interest in becoming an officer they let it be known and depending on several factors (their work ethic, their level of confidence in their abilities on the street, how well they can be trained, their intelligence, how they've demonstrated handling stressful situations, their physical fitness level, etc.) they can have an excellent shot at becoming an officer when a position becomes available or a snowball's chance in hell, or somewhere in between.

As said above (and in your first post) it all depends on the individual, not whether or not they start off in one position or another within the department.

[mcsap]

If a dispatcher wants to take the hiring test , oral interview , physical agility , background check and psychological test...and can pass , they can get hired.

Having been in dispatch is not any kind of a " extra points " situation here. Our dispatchers work for the county , not for the police dept.

[G35 Mass]

Out this way, the majority of dispatchers are employed by the department they work for.

The best dispatchers I know have wanted to be cops, because they have half a clue what goes on out on the streets (in terms of traffic stops, domestics, etc.) and 1) provide good, relvant information and 2) do so in a way that doesn't get you killed (i.e.: Thirty seconds after stopping a carthey don't blurt out "yea that's coming back stolen", knowing that you're likely at the window talking to the operator who can hear the radio too.).

I also know several who were wanna-be's, got jobs behind the desk, and did great jobs of burring any chance they had of getting on the road. A Chief of Police telling another Chief that Dispatcher XXX has been a great, loyal worker, eager to learn, etc. is a SOLID reference. The same can be said when there's trash to be talked...

Also, at least here in Mass, it's a "plus" because the LE job market is tough but if you start working on the desk, year-for-year your service carries over towards retirement. You can do 29 years on the desk and 3 on the road, or 3 on the desk and 29 on the road. Retirement is the same.

[Joeyd6]

Keep in mind what I say is different for most areas. You call 911 and they enter it in a computer, send it to a PD, FD or EMS dispatcher who assigns a cop. The PD dispatcher does not get to talk to the victim unless they call them. They also don't have CAD dispatching or a computer system that prioritizes. Its all in the dispatchers hands. Additionally, dispatch is far away from most and we nver meet them or see them.

The best dispatcher I had at the NYPD was a retired NYPD cop who did it part time. He covered lunches and breaks and when you got him, the time flew. No half-*** info from the dispatcher....didn't have to ask for certain additional info....all prior call histores at the address...etc... He knew our job and went in there and did everything he could to make sure we could do ours with all the information available. He also prioritized the jobs in the precinct at lunch time so you were not running crazy over non-sense. He would also call folks who had BS calls and "smooth" them over so they knew why they were waiting, encouraged them to do walk-in complaints and let you handle your job in peace and take lunch wihout having to run crazy or end up misisng lunch because some yuppie decided to finally report his cell phone missing after a week. "Paul" was awesome and made my days easier when he worked. .