Dispatcher rant

[stillamarine]

I find it amusing that some of you have dispatchers that look over your reports. The only way ours can see them is after they are put into the system by data entry. They get mad when we try to cancel our backup directly (calling the backup unit and telling them we don't need them.)

ie "439 to 438 you can mike (cancel) nothing showing here.
Radio to 439, Can I dispatch?
439 to Radio yes ma'am 10-23 nothing showing, november (nothing to report)"

[JPSO Recruit]

Why are your dispatchers reading reports? If they tried to tell me how to do my job they would be receiving some words from my LT. I don't tell them how to do their job, they don't tell me how to do mine.

[kcso]

I've never heard of a dispatcher telling someone when to write a report and what to put in them if you do write one. That sounds like a issue with your department giving them that latitude, or allowing it to happen.

Our dispatchers take the initiative to do ride outs with us so they can see firsthand what we do, why we do it and why we say or ask the things we do. On the flip side, we as officers should sit with them in dispatch to see the crap they put up with, people screaming at them on the phones, units going out on something without pausing between giving their unit number, what they have, location and tags and then bitching because the dispatcher either didn't get it all or asked them to repeat it.

While you're sitting car to car talking or complaining about whatever is you complain about, your "GED" dispatcher is still sitting behind the mic answering phones and radio traffic. Not to mention their supervisor lurking over their shoulder telling them what to say to you, knowing full well that they will take the brunt of your criticism for words their supervisor told them to say.

Lighten up, show some respect and stop calling them whores and stop talking crap about them. Aside from it sounding childish, it's unprofessional and it makes you look as bad as you say they are.

Read this




.

[grog18b]

Our dispatchers at our dept. have the worst attitudes I've ever encountered.

Really??? 20+ years ago we had one that obviously hated work and did whatever she could to avoid it. I despised her laziness, however she "knew" the chain of command or someone high up in it... The last straw for me was when I stopped a guy that told me he was suspended, I called it in to her, and she supposedly ran his DMV and reported "every thing's valid". I asked twice if she was sure. Yup, sure. I told her to run him again that he is telling me he is suspended. She asked for the info again, as she never wrote it down on the first call. She then comes back telling me "Oh yeah, he is suspended."

She was too lazy to not only run this guy for me through BMV, but too lazy to even take the time to write down my traffic stop, or the info I called in.

I took myself straight into our LT's office, told him of the incident, and demanded (yes, that's the right word) to never, ever work with her again. I also provided a written complaint, in which I advised that if anything ever happened to me on the job, my wife was to get a lawyer and subpoena any records of traffic stops or calls for assistance, and check for her ineptness.

She also had a habit of just walking away from the radio. I would return to the barracks to find her downstairs, in the lunchroom eating and NO ONE manning the desk. No one listening to the radio. Her response was "I don't care, when it's my lunchtime, if no one is here to relieve me, I leave."

When someone did relieve her for lunch, she would leave the building, and return a few HOURS later... No one wanted to relieve her, ever. She also showed up either right on the hour she was to start, or 10-30 minutes LATE for work EVERY day. Never stayed one second after her shift was over.

She was caught falsifying her time sheet (this was pre-computer) putting that she was working 3-11 when she actually worked 7-3 to get shift diff. One of our guys was going to arrest her for theft, but was ORDERED off, and she was given three months off PAID leave, because she suddenly developed an alcohol problem. The next year she was voted "PCO OF THE YEAR"...

You believe that? I know several officers that know about it.

No matter how bad you think you might have it, it could be worse... I did 12 YEARS on the midnight shift to get as far away from her as possible.

[Friday, Joe]

Im a dispatcher and I lucked out. We're getting shift changes in January and my new parter has one of the best attitudes in the department. We're going to be a freakin' A-Team. I can't stand a bad attitude. Those bad attitudes turn into poor performance and could ultimately cost an officer his life. I don't want that blood on my hands or conscience for the rest of my life. I hope that when I finally become an LEO, my dispatchers won't treat me poorly.

[That Guy]

That's a pretty sh*tty attitude. There are more good dispatchers than bad ones and there are a lot of officers married to dispatchers who wouldn't appreciate that kind of stupid a*s remark. Don't forget it's a two way street and I'm sure they aren't too pleased when they get attitudes like yours over the air or when guys run stupid crap like the sheriff's LP just to be a d**K. I'm not a dispatcher, never was, but I do have respect for them even if they don't always return it.

Don't get you panties all in a bunch, it was a joke. Not to mention in order to marry them you have to date them which goes along with what I said. The interpersonal relationships between support staff and sworn officers has been seen over the last 100 years and will continue. Its the nature of the job. It happens here and I'm sure it happens there. Whenever they give attitude I ignore them myself and continue going about my business.
Someone already mentioned is but they ARE SUPPORT STAFF. I think too many people forget that. I'm not saying think less of them but the pecking order is in place.

TGY

[kcso]

Don't get you panties all in a bunch, it was a joke. Not to mention in order to marry them you have to date them which goes along with what I said. The interpersonal relationships between support staff and sworn officers has been seen over the last 100 years and will continue. Its the nature of the job. It happens here and I'm sure it happens there. Whenever they give attitude I ignore them myself and continue going about my business.
Someone already mentioned is but they ARE SUPPORT STAFF. I think too many people forget that. I'm not saying think less of them but the pecking order is in place.

TGY

A joke eh? That's almost as pathetic as your original remark and does not excuse your lack of respect. Of course, judging from your response, that's something you obviously don't know too much about.

[LA Copper]

Our dispatchers are excellent, I have nothing but respect for them. Every once in a while one of them makes an error but their trainer is there to fix it. If any of your departments have dispatcher issues, you should send them out west so they can see how it's done properly.

kcso, it was pretty obvious That Guy's post was supposed to be a joke, don't get so worked up. I have friends who are dispatchers on our job and still didn't take offense to it.

[Retired96]

In my career with LASD I never once had a complaint with our dispatchers. Our dispatch center was state of the art at the time. They covered over 20 stations and various units. There was always a supervisor on the dispatch floor to monitor the dispatchers. To me our dispatchers were the wonderful women and young men who made my job easier and always looked out for my welfare.

[crazynova]

In my career with LASD I never once had a complaint with our dispatchers. Our dispatch center was state of the art at the time. They covered over 20 stations and various units. There was always a supervisor on the dispatch floor to monitor the dispatchers. To me our dispatchers were the wonderful women and young men who made my job easier and always looked out for my welfare.

That seems to be the general concensus here, too. They have a lot of dispatchers and call takers working at a time, and always have a couple supervisors on the floor. They don't at all complain about an officer doing their job either. At the same time, they have to go through an academy and have a failure rate that mirrors the police academy. They also don't have internet, TV, or radio available to them. There may be a few who are a tad slower or a little more harsh than others, but they still seem to get the job done.

[kcso]

kcso, it was pretty obvious That Guy's post was supposed to be a joke, don't get so worked up. I have friends who are dispatchers on our job and still didn't take offense to it.

Not worked up, I just have very little tolerance for someone making generalized demeaning statements like that in a public forum.

[That Guy]

Not worked up, I just have very little tolerance for someone making generalized demeaning statements like that in a public forum.

KC are you saying that cops and dispatchers don't bed hop? If your dept. has NEVER had that then it is either VERY small or VERY religious. Sounds like it has occurred since you mentioned them being married. That's fine you don't see the joke, perhaps you don't have humor because it wasn't issued to you at your academy.
I work closely and am friends with MANY of our dispatchers and they would joke right along side me on this.
You can have the last word and generalize me as being pathetic.

[kcso]

That's fine you don't see the joke, perhaps you don't have humor because it wasn't issued to you at your academy.

Joke or not, it's not something that needs to be in a public forum. We are supposed to be professionals, at least in the eyes of the public. What we do or say behind the scenes should be kept there. It wasn't that I was not taught a sense of humor in my academy, it's that I was taught, over the years, when and where that sense of humor is appropriate. If we don't get onto each other about this stuff then who will?

[sublimejhn]

KC are you saying that cops and dispatchers don't bed hop? If your dept. has NEVER had that then it is either VERY small or VERY religious. Sounds like it has occurred since you mentioned them being married. That's fine you don't see the joke, perhaps you don't have humor because it wasn't issued to you at your academy.
I work closely and am friends with MANY of our dispatchers and they would joke right along side me on this.
You can have the last word and generalize me as being pathetic.

I laughed at the joke. Mostly because it's true.

[LA DEP]

Not worked up, I just have very little tolerance for someone making generalized demeaning statements like that in a public forum.

Why?....the truth hurt a bit much?

This job was a big soap opera long before I started in 1988.....and will be long after I am retired.