Tactical Dispatcher. SWAT Dispatcher. Two terms that have held my attention for a while now. They are not necessarily interchangeable. In fact one article describes the difference as: 1) a SWAT Dispatcher is specially trained to handle the needs of a SWAT-level law enforcement response and 2) a Tactical Dispatcher is trained to handle a variety of specialized responses to a variety of situations, including but not limited to SWAT calls. These low-frequency, high-risk situations include high profile and prolonged cases, search and rescue, large fires, parades, dignitary visits, etc. What is interesting about this concept is that many people believe that tactical/SWAT dispatchers need to be distinguished from other dispatchers by special training and certifications. I have to question if that is really necessary on one hand and quite possibly detrimental on the other.
Special Training
All dispatchers need to know how to handle emergency situations as they occur. After all, that is what we do for a living. We deal with emergencies. Some shifts, it’s quiet. We take the calls that come in, send them to the officers we have on our status list and move to the next. The officers might go out on a few traffic stops. They might even stop a burglary in progress. On another shift, all hell could break loose. A high-speed chase followed by a foot pursuit could end with a tussle and in the worse case an injury to the suspect or the officer. Two of these could happen at the same time. Or one of these and at the same time, an officer is involved in an accident with injuries. Essentially, every time we put on the headset, we might work a low-frequency, high-risk situation. We all need to be trained with how to deal with that down to the newest rookie. Some of the specialized training advocates seem to believe that the dispatcher needs special understanding of resources and how to establish and deal with command. That is not our place. We do need to have an understanding of the command structure and who has what that might be needed. But, our main job is to coordinate and we can do that without special training. I’m not saying that training for SWAT or tactical situations is not important, but that every dispatcher should be trained for this.
Switching Out
Another issue I have with specialized dispatchers is what happens when a situation occurs that is already being worked on a frequency manned by a non-specialized dispatcher? Is the specialized dispatcher going to just sit down and say, “Hey, scram I’ve got this now.” My experience tells me that this will go over about as well as tacks on the bottom of a slide. We dispatchers are very territorial and if it happens on my watch, I work it. I cannot even imagine the negative energy that would occur if only a few special dispatchers get to take over and work all the fun stuff. For those of you that advocate that the more experienced dispatchers should work the high-risk stuff, I have to ask how they got all that experience in the first place. If you don’t let a rookie work her own emergency traffic, she will never learn how to do it and do it well.
Ferguson
Not long ago, 42,000 people including me were glued to an internet channel streaming the police radios in and around Ferguson (MO). This was the night the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson was announced. Protestors lined the streets not only in Ferguson but in other cities around the country. Everyone waited. No indictment was the verdict. I sat on my couch that evening and into the night listening as numerous dispatchers handled the riots that were taking place. Looters. Vandals. Packs of burglars. Assault rifle shooting. Fires. For hours, these dispatchers calmly handled their officer’s traffic and the calls coming in. And they handled it very, very well. I was impressed by the professionalism I heard on the radio that night. Even when an officer had an open mike during a critical moment and any requests for help would be covered by the officer’s K-9 partner’s barking and panting, the dispatcher maintained calm. This happened several times. I commend the officers as well for their professionalism on the radio. My guess is that these were not specially trained tactical dispatchers. These were your run-of-the-mill, average, ordinary first first responders that go in each shift and do their job to the best of their ability. They take trainings when they are offered. I’m sure in this situation there were numerous briefings, but they did their job based on the experience they had gained just doing their job on a daily basis.
Not everyone may agree with me. Some might think that having a dispatcher trained to work in the field with officers on special task forces is a necessary and important role. I just believe that those who do this job and care about doing it well would not want certain people singled out for special training. They would all want to have all the information and training so that when the inevitable happens and that “special” dispatcher is not there the situation will still have a positive outcome.
