Dispatching: Do You Have What it Takes?

Nov. 12, 2014
The ability to multi-task and focus are two traits necessary to do well as a 9-1-1 operator/dispatcher. Most people recognize this. There are also other traits that will make or break someone in this field.

The single most common statement I heard as a police telecommunications operator was, “Wow that must be a tough job. Not everyone can do what you do.” A truer statement has never been uttered. It is a tough job and not for everyone. But, across the country there are people heeding the call. They see the advertisements in the newspaper or on-line and they think to themselves, what would it take for me to be able to do that? Once they decide that they want to apply, there are written and agility tests, oral interviews and background checks. All of these are designed to see whether or not someone has the dexterity, personality and skills to do the job of a 9-1-1 operator/dispatcher. Those tests are good indicators but during my time in the field I have learned a few things about those who make it and those who don’t. Here are a few of the things you need to succeed in this job.

Typing Speed

“422F, I’m in foot pursuit, eastbound down 22nd avenue and Highland. Suspects a white male, 33, 5’10, 180, wearing a brown shirt, black pants, high top red sneakers and a white beanie.” Now this might now seem like that much to type, IF the officer said it calmly and spread it out over a thirty seconds or so. But, instead you’re going to get a jumble of words cleared over the air when you least expect it and he will smash all those syllables into five seconds. You, as the dispatcher, are expected to hear, understand and type everything down into the computer as it’s being said. It’s not unheard of that dispatchers type 90 words per minute plus. That’s a skill that stays with you even when you’re no longer on the floor. When people look at me typing away and say, “Man, you type fast,” I just reply, “I was a dispatcher.” Along with fingers like Mercury, you have to learn to type accurately. After all you can’t tell the officer to hold on because you have to delete and retype something he just said. By that time, he will already be on to the next information he wants to give you.

Short Term Memory

It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember what you did last weekend or even yesterday. To be really good at your job as a dispatcher, you must have a photographic short term memory. When an officer says something to you, it gets lodged in your head without any conscious thought; your fingers fly over the keyboard putting down what was just said even as the officer is telling you more information. It’s like your hands are a minute behind what is actually going on but it has a perfect snap-shot of the past. This happens moment after moment until the situation is over and your mind catches up. Phone numbers. License plates. Names. Addresses. Suspect descriptions. All these pieces of information brand themselves into your short term memory and a dispatcher can hold a lot of stuff in there. Once it comes out where it’s needed, it gets discarded so there is space for the next short term memory blast.

Multi-tasking

This one is a no brainer. Dispatchers do a dozen things at once. You have to be able to answer the phone (maybe more than one), listen and reply to the radio, type into CAD, run things in NCIC, watch seven computer screens, brief your supervisor and a myriad of other things all at the same time. If you are someone who has to do one thing at a time, complete that task and move on to the next, this is definitely not the career for you.

Care too much

When new people would come into 9-1-1/dispatch, it was pretty easy to tell who was going to care too much and would end up leaving the job because it was just too heartbreaking. There is nothing wrong with people like this. In fact, the world needs more people who care deeply. The problem is that if every call you take breaks your heart, you will burn out quickly. One of the sweetest women I have ever known got hired and began her career in 9-1-1. She was a pastor’s wife and was active in all sorts of positive activities involving youth. The first call she took that involved the death of a child, she was inconsolable. She recognized how bad the job was for her and resigned. We all respected her more for being able to make that decision.

Care too little

On the other hand, you cannot be a good 9-1-1 operator/dispatcher and care too little. Many times when a person calls 9-1-1 it’s like a puzzle. They may say something that doesn’t seem to be a situation that needs to involve the police at all. They need more toilet paper or something equally ludicrous. But, sometimes there is more going on than meets the ear. If the operator doesn’t care enough to try and figure out if someone truly needs help, the caller might end up with a snide, “This is an emergency line. You’ll need to hang up and call someone who can help you with your problem.” Click. But someone who cares will ask more questions, like the operator at my department who received the toilet paper request. In the end, it turned out to be a domestic violence situation and was a valid 9-1-1 call.

Focus

A final skill that is truly important is the ability to focus. Radio rooms are loud. People are jabbering all over the place. Tones are going off. Phones are ringing. But when you are taking that 9-1-1 call or especially when you are working that emergency traffic on the radio, you have to have super-sonic focus. Your world needs to have melted down into just what is going on at that moment. Everything that is not relevant needs to fade into the background. If you’re someone who cannot concentrate unless you are in a quiet room without distractions, public safety communications is definitely not where you want to place your occupational bets.

It’s true. Not everyone can do a dispatcher’s job. It takes a certain kind of person. Of the characteristics I’ve mentioned, some can be learned and some are just inherent. When someone has “IT” it shows. Everyone knows especially those who also have “IT”. It’s like a flock of black sheep in the center of multi-colored sheep. When another black one wanders in, everyone’s like, Welcome to the flock!!

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