Relationship between Officers and Dispatchers

[Sierra]

Saw this on another police website, felt it useful here.

http://www.policeone.com/police-prod...icles/1271472/

Let’s be honest, there is no better example of a “love-hate relationship” than the daily interaction between street cops and their dispatchers. When things are going well, we love each other; when they’re not, tempers flare, attitudes take a nosedive and we temporarily hate each other.

Having spent time on both sides of the dispatch center, I’d like to make just a few suggestions for making life easier—and safer—for each other.

Police Officers

Mind Your Manners

When you key up that microphone, be mindful of your tone of voice; if you wouldn’t talk to your mother, your spouse, or your neighbor in that rude, sarcastic, exasperated tone, then why would you talk that way to your dispatcher?

This is where the “Golden Rule” becomes especially important. That call-taker is going to be your lifeline at some point, so talk to her in the same manner that you’d like her to talk back to you when you’re under stress.

Most “911” centers are chaotic at best, and there are going to be times when you’ll have to ask for information to be repeated, or you have to repeat your own transmission; after all, no system nor human is perfect. Take a deep breath and think before you speak.

Try To Provide Some Closure

Dispatchers spend their shift responding to crisis after crisis, but they rarely get to hear or see the outcome of their actions. This is especially important in critical incidents.

A friend of mine, a veteran 911 operator, once took a call from a handicapped woman whose apartment was on fire. The dispatcher heroically talked to the victim, keeping her calm and eventually helping her make peace with what would turn out to be her last moments on Earth. Neither the police nor fire department were able to save this woman, and the incident was traumatic for all involved, especially when we discovered that the fire victim was a relative of a police employee.

A crisis intervention team was activated, and all involved employees except for the dispatcher were invited to participate. No one even told the dispatcher that the woman had died; she had to read about it the next day in the paper. This was a simple oversight on the agency’s part, but it was devastating to that dispatcher.

Make sure that after the conclusion of each “hot” call (and even some of the funny ones) someone calls dispatch and lets them know the outcome. This gives the operators some much-needed closure, and helps make everyone feel a part of the same team.

Recognize the Stressful Nature of a Dispatcher’s Job

As cops, we think our job is stressful, which it is, but we often fail to recognize the consistently high level of stress inside that com-center. Remember, no one calls “911” when things are going well, so every single communication coming in and going out of dispatch is some sort of crisis.

A good dispatcher is highly aware that they are responsible for the clear, safe communication between you and the unknown, but 8, 10 or 12 hours of that atmosphere can get to even the most Zen-like personality. A kind word, a “thank you,” and the recognition that things can get pretty crazy, both on and off the street, can go a long way toward easing the stress in dispatch and improving dispatcher/cop relations. .

Dispatchers

Be Vigilant & Informed About Officer Safety & Survival

Since dispatchers are often the key to an officer’s safe and successful outcome on calls, traffic stops, and other incidents, police dispatchers should study officer safety and survival tactics with all the enthusiasm of your average rookie cop.

Attend outside training courses (such as the Street Survival seminar), read law enforcement publications (both electronic and print), and stay abreast of officer survival news and information.

Call-takers should be allowed to ride along with FTO’s and supervisors who are willing and able to provide the dispatcher with an appropriate overview of officer safety from a cop’s eye view.

Get in the habit of seeking additional information for the officers before they ask for it, such as the previous incidents at the location you’re sending them to, the criminal history of the person they currently have stopped, and any other special knowledge you may have that will help the officers stay safe.

Know Your Dispatch Area

In the age of computer-aided dispatch, in-car computers, GPS and other technology, operators tend to rely too heavily on the screen in front of them, not in their knowledge of the officers’ coverage area. Get out in the car, go on ride-alongs, read the local crime bulletins, and spend time getting to know the streets, businesses, and hot spots of your jurisdiction.

Don’t rely solely on the computer screen to recommend who should go where. Get in the habit of picturing the area where you’re sending the officers, and then do what you can to make their response safer and more productive.

Recognize that you’re here to support the cops

As a sergeant, one of the biggest complaints I hear from officers is “the dispatchers act like we’re there to support them, not the other way around.” This is an age-old workplace dilemma: “Whose job is more important.” Dispatchers, we’re going to ask you to do things, call people, and answer questions that may seem absolutely frivolous or absurd to you, but they are important to us.

I once had a dispatcher who seemed aggravated every time I asked her to call inside and have a bank employee step outside during our usual rash of morning false alarms. Rather than complain to her supervisor or start a verbal “war” over the radio, I contacted her and asked if she knew why we had the employees come out to us rather than the officers going into the bank.

As I suspected, it turned out that she had never been informed about the officer safety procedures in false alarm response. Once she understood, she became absolute vigilant in her response to these and other potentially dangerous calls, and she turned out to be a great dispatcher.

Dispatchers need to recognize that their role is to support the officer on the street, to inform them, keep track of them and help them stay safe. And, remember, the “Golden Rule” I talked about works both ways.

Supervisors and managers

Supervisors and managers on both sides need to be willing to step in and provide opportunities for learning, team building — and yes, even some constructive “venting.”

Like many workplace disagreements, the “us versus them” mentality often stems from simple misunderstandings. A veteran dispatcher can be one of a rookie officer’s best trainers if she is allowed to provide real-time feedback, and a veteran street cop can be invaluable to a new dispatcher who is trying to learn proper officer safety.

Constantly remind yourself and each other — that we truly are all on the same team —and then get in the habit of treating all of your teammates with the same courtesy and respect that you expect them to bestow upon you.

[Cat_Doc]

Yep, it needs to be a two-way street. Dispatchers need to remember they are not the ones out there facing the danger and cops who have the "Never Sworn, Never Born" attitude need to adjust.

I like the idea of having cops sit in radio for a few shifts and dispatchers riding shotgun on the street for a few shifts.

[StationM]

Great post!

The only reason I hate making phone calls on the radio, is because it's harder to hear my radio on the phone. The radio switches to the external speaker, while the phone stays on headset. I have the phone volume as low as possible, and my speaker as high as possible, but it never fails, traffic comes in, and it's covered by the phone.

I put radio traffic first, so I hang up on people sometimes.

[USAF Cop]

Howdy,
In the Air Force the Security Police (or Forces as were called now) Have a weird way of doing things. Were just now slowly contracting certain areas of the department to Civilians. Our LE Desk (or Dispatch as yall call it) Is run by Cops usually Expereienced Sgts or Highspeed Airmen. Myself am training up for the Desk as we speak and my mindset is this, sometimes attitudes get added to transmissions. I've been accused of sounding cocky at times or annoyed when I call for assistance and in reality I was trying to be helpful. But your tone is all relative. When your out with a failure to yield, its pouring down rain and your radio battery is chirping sometimes its hard to have to continually try to give the Desk your exact location even though you already said it 3 times. But as for love hate when I was a civilian vol before joining I never saw much anomosity. Sometimes I dont like a certain dispatcher just beacuse I can't stand his or her voice for 12 hours. :-) But great article

[K-9MALY]

Our dispatchers are pretty great for the most part. They are all centered in the Border Patrol buildings and work for a BPA Chief. The immediate supervisor for them here locally is a good friend of mine, who is a former officer with a great understanding of how things need to be run from both ends of the spectrum.

[PVPD124]

I'm going to print that one for the Chief and FTO's


+1

[oscarmitre]

Our dispatchers are all sworn cops but even then there are still some choice exchanges between patrols and Comms - not a lot but it happens.

[hutchins]

When I was a Dispatcher I worked right where the officers lived. They worked 24 hour shifts and had 2 days off. We really got to know eachother well and I learned a lot from them. THey knew I was an LEO hopeful and loved to be asked questions and share their war stories. I did everything that the officers asked me to to and we got along great. I knew I worked for them and I might be the difference between life or death. The job also made me learn the Illinois 10 codes so that was cool too.

[Group9]

There have been times I wanted to kiss them when I got back to the office, and times I had to be restrained from going in and killing them.

[wcso234]

I caught myself scrolling down to what is said the dispatchers were doing wrong........LOL

[Cat_Doc]

There have been times I wanted to kiss them when I got back to the office, and times I had to be restrained from going in and killing them.

BTDT!

[Norm357]

A friend of mine, a veteran 911 operator, once took a call from a handicapped woman whose apartment was on fire. The dispatcher heroically talked to the victim, keeping her calm and eventually helping her make peace with what would turn out to be her last moments on Earth. Neither the police nor fire department were able to save this woman, and the incident was traumatic for all involved, especially when we discovered that the fire victim was a relative of a police employee.

A crisis intervention team was activated, and all involved employees except for the dispatcher were invited to participate. No one even told the dispatcher that the woman had died; she had to read about it the next day in the paper. This was a simple oversight on the agency’s part, but it was devastating to that dispatcher.

That sucks.

[Stan Switek]

My personal experience in 30 years of LE with a large department was that the less I could involve dispatchers in a situation, the better. Much less chance for miscommunication. I could go on for hours on this topic but I'll spare everyone. My department had a few really good ones that were a true pleasure to work with. Sadly the majority were just the opposite. There was a culture in place that was absolutely resistant to change for the better.

[shugs]

There have been officers to run pursuits on non dispatch monitored radio channels and even on cell phones for the reason. Crazy but sad. The only imput I would want to add that disps should know is this. While we recognize that in certain incidents there is information you must gather to place in CAD (or whatever your agency uses) but what we on the ground want to hear are the other officer's traffic. And it gets hard when questions are asked repeatedly that many not necesarily pertain to the info that the officers in the field need to get across to responding backup or officers on the field but unseen. Some of the best dispatchers say very little.



oh, but feel free to repeat the location of incident or officer. Thnx

[PVPD124]

There have been officers to run pursuits on non dispatch monitored radio channels and even on cell phones for the reason. Crazy but sad. The only input I would want to add that disps should know is this. While we recognize that in certain incidents there is information you must gather to place in CAD (or whatever your agency uses) but what we on the ground want to hear are the other officer's traffic. And it gets hard when questions are asked repeatedly that many not necessarily pertain to the info that the officers in the field need to get across to responding backup or officers on the field but unseen. Some of the best dispatchers say very little.



oh, but feel free to repeat the location of incident or officer. Thnx

We teach our dispatchers to shut the heck up in a pursuit situation unless an officer says "headquarters" in any part of the transmission.

We had a pursuit Sat. night here and I was dispatching. In 18 minutes and 48 seconds of the chase (we reviewed audio and video recordings on Sun.)I said maybe 14 words. "114 clear", "final stop Indian Meridian and Royal Oaks 114 advises all units slow down." All other traffic regarding the pursuit was done on the mutual aid freq as we had 4 agencies involved.