Need some help... dispatchers read

[Red Swan]

I work at a small county SO, none the less it has seen some major changes in last few months with the removal/resignation of the former sheriff by the state attorney general

anyways they have hired several new dispatchers, and basically they get minimum training from other dispatchers who never got any formal classroom training themselves, hence the newbies really have no clue what to ask callers, like who what where when, I like to know when i or another officer is going to a domestic for example that there is a gun there, or a man with a knife etc. had one recently, go down blah blah road becuase so-and-so is smashing windows out of the complainants car, some local nickname, wheres that at...umm i don't know dispatch says, well wtf ask also for ambulance and fire simple questions are not being asked, a house fire...some buddy in the house etc... simple **** but not being asked

what they had in the past but was lost and thrown in trash by former sheriff along with officer safety obviously, was a check off sheet that they had to use for each call, had a bunch of questions on it, like weapons involved, weapons in residence, call back number, date of birth, etc etc if some buddy could PM me a such sheet they use I would greatly appreciate it and put it to good use at our agency.

[kannahspapa]

Does your state offer LEADS or NCIC computer based training? Here in ILLinois the state police is in charge of LEADS ( law enforcement emergency administrative data system ) and it's offered on the computer so you can even access it at home. One of the classes is less than full access and everyone who has access to police computers is required to take it. Having your new dispatchers study teaches them the basics so they ask those questions.

[L-1]

Here's a couple of thoughts:

If your department budget allows it, a number of locations in your state probably run dispatcher academies, (We are mandated by law to send our dispatchers to an academy in California.) You might look into that.

In California, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training offers all sorts of training resources for dispatchers. You might see if your state's POST does the same.

If all else fails, try contacting the Association of Public Safety Communication Officials. They offer all sorts of training and materials for Public Safety Communications personnel. They are located at http://www.apcointl.org/ I tried skimming through their online resource library and came up with this brief training pamphlet in just a couple of minutes. I suspect they have a lot more there for free. http://www.apcointl.org/new/commcent...ging_Calls.pdf

[just joe]

I had to look to see where you are from--I thought maybe we worked at the same place.

[nonickname69]

No he/she is in the "other" Dakota...

Its known for there to be multiple parallel realities there.

Here is the accrediting agency our dispatch center is associated with supposedly there is only 45 emergency communication agencies in the country that have this. Personally its a little over the top but if you have nothing, working towards this would raise the level of performance significantly.

National Academies of Emergency Dispatch

[School Cop]

Red Swan,

Have some periods. My keyboard came with some extras!

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...........

[Bighead]

A generic checkoff sheet can be a little difficult, because of the huge vareity of calls that comm centers receive. Once you figure out the kind of call you also have to account for priority level based on when the event occurred.

That being said, basically a call taker will need to address the following:

1. Where. Where is the event occuring? With where you can at the very least resopnd officers to a trouble unknown.

2. What. What is going on? This helps to develop the type of call, creating the foundation of priority.

3. When. When did it happen? Is the event in-progress, did it just occur, or is this a cold report call. This is the second stage of establishing priority. For instance an assault report is less important than a vandalism in-progress, even though the underlying crime of assault is more serious than vandalism.

4. Who. Who is the victim? Who is the suspect?

5. Weapons.


L-1 made an excellent suggestion when he directed you to APCO. I was also going to suggest you contact the local detachment of your state police, but it appears you have a highway patrol like we do in Oklahoma, so they may not be quite as helpful. Another idea would be to look to a larger municipal agency in your area for some help. You will have to tread lightly I'm sure so you don't want to step on the toes of communications personnel or the administration.

http://www.911dispatch.com is a link to Dispatch Monthly Magazine's website, where there are some resources for public safety dispatchers.

If you admimistration is not committed to excellence (or even mediocrity) then you will have a harder row to hoe. You might consider developing relationships with your dispatchers (including ride-alongs, spending time in dispatch) so that you can make friendly suggestions to help you get them to get the information you need.

Good Luck.

[CruiserClass]

Red Swan,

Have some periods. My keyboard came with some extras!

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ...........

Yeah, that's funny.


Anyway, as a former dispatcher and current officer the best I can tell you is that they'll learn. You may want to talk to your supervisors and let them know the officer safety issues you guys are facing and have them address it.

Don't be afraid to call them out on the radio, either. "Dispatch, so I can have the best chance of going home safely tonight can you do a call back and ask if there are weapons involved?" They'll probably remember next time.