More Curious Than Worried

10 Reasons Being a Dispatcher Rocks

1. I get to help people.
2. Sometimes, when police officers come into dispatch to get paperwork I throw stuff at them….just cuz I can.
3. I get to serve and protect those that serve and protect.
4. When my job is entertaining, it’s REALLY entertaining.
5. When my job is boring, I seek comfort in the fact that it’s boring because people aren’t requesting help.
6. My co-workers all have a twisted sense of humor whether they want to or not.
7. I get to help catch bad guys.
8. I get to be the disembodied voice of a police department.
9. I get to hear stories about sloppy drunks, strange injuries and grotesque deaths but I don’t have to see or smell these things.
10. The public knows that help is just a 9-1-1 call away. Police officers and firefighters know that help is just a radio transmission away. They know this because dispatchers and operators across the county have earned this reputation. I get to live up to this expectation everyday I go to work.

April 11-17, 2010 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. If you’re a 9-1-1 operator, a police dispatcher, a fire dispatcher, etc., then thank you for what you do every day!

Realtor Burglarizes Home For Sale, Leaves Dead Birds

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” – Albert Einstien

Before I tell you about this call I just dispatched, I want to warn you of a couple things….

1. This story is true. I wish I could make up stuff this good, but the world is far more crafty than I am.
2. Do NOT attempt to figure out the logic of this call. Just sit back and enjoy the ridiculous-ness of it. Attempting to put logic into the situation will only make your brain hurt in odd ways. It kinda feels like brain freeze without the comfort of the cold, stabby pain. I cannot stress this enough.

Just after 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning a woman calls the police to talk about a burglary that occurred at the house next to her. After approximately 10 minutes of following a circular cycle of paranoia, stupidity and I-watch-too-much-crime-drama-ness, here is what we came up with:

• About 2 weeks ago, the vacant house next to her was burglarized. (This turns out to be true, a report was already taken by the realtor who is trying to sell the house.)
• Since then, she has found 2 dead birds and a dead squirrel in her yard.

This leads our caller to conclude one thing: The realtor burglarized the vacant house and is killing small animals and tossing them in the caller’s yard because they burglarized the house that they’re trying to sell.

911 Dispatch – A Mental Disorder

My sister sent me these funny 911 dispatch images in an email. Enjoy!

The Police Can’t Help You…

…If they don’t know where you are!

In the 4 hours I’ve been at work tonight I have given 3 geography lessons on 911 to people who were calling from THEIR OWN HOMES!

Here was the jist of one of the calls..

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ME: 911. Where is your emergency?

CALLER: The people in the apartment above me have their TV or stereo turned up too loud. (I’ve learned that people usually ignore whatever I say when I answer the phone.)

ME: Ok. What is your address?

CALLER: I live in 204. They’re right above me so I think it’s 304.

ME: Ok. What is the address that you are at? (If you have to ask someone the same question twice, it’s better to use different words so they don’t ignore you.)

CALLER: Grand avenue. Apartment 204.

ME: Ok…… You’re on Grand. What is the ADDRESS there? (There are at least 6 apartment buildings on Grand in our small city.)

CALLER: Well, they’re above me, so I’m pretty sure it’s on the 3rd floor and it’s really annoying and-

ME: What. Is. Your. ADDRESS? If I sent you a letter, what is the ADDRESS would I write on the envelope?!

CALLER: Oh…I just moved here…. Lemme see… Oh, it’s (blah blah address).

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Now, I understand that if you’re somewhere other than your home you probably don’t know the address, but when you call 911 WE NEED YOU TO TELL US WHERE YOU ARE! Addresses are great. Intersections help. Use landmarks, business names (except Starbucks, there’s too many), latitude and longitude. Find something unique and big and describe it. If you want someone who drives a vehicle with red and blue flashy lights on it to come help you, we need YOUR HELP first to find out where you are. We can guess if we absolutely have to and we’re pretty good at it, but we get there quicker with your help.

This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you in part by people who ANNOY THE HELL OUT OF ME! Thank you.

Police: The Unwitting Victims of Racism

• Cambridge top cop stands by department after Harvard arrest

I just have to throw my two cents in on this story. Here’s the summary: Police get called because a neighbor sees what looks like 2 black males attempting to break into the front door of a residence. When police get there, they contact a black male who is inside the residence. The male refuses to cooperate with police and proceeds to call the officer racist. The male finally, begrudgingly, gives the officer his ID. The officers are satisfied that he lives there and go to leave. The male continues to berate the officers. The officers arrest the male on a Disorderly Conduct charge.

There are very few things that really get me fuming. One of those things is racism. Racism is something to take very seriously. Racism is not an excuse to get what you want. Pulling the “race card”, or blaming someone of acting racist without reason, is a sure way to cause people to trivialize reports of racism.

Police officers get put in these situations a lot. A concerned citizen calls the police because they see someone who is a minority doing something suspicious. There are 3 possible reasons for this call:

1. The person who is a minority really is doing something suspicious and possibly illegal.
2. The concerned citizen misinterpreted what they saw.
3. The concerned citizen is a racist bastard who doesn’t like having those [insert-racist-term-here]s in their neighborhood.

Race card throwers love to blame the police for reasons 2 and 3, because now the police have contacted a person who is a minority for “no reason other than their race”, conveniently forgetting that the officers were responding to something that was called in. The best way to deal with this is not to berate the officer for being racist without provocation. If you’re not doing anything illegal just talk with the officer with the same respect you expect to receive.

Working as a dispatcher for a police department, I am aware how easy it is for some people to assume the worst about the police. Which is why I hate calls like this:

ME: 911, where is your emergency?
CALLER: You need to send a patrol car to (address), now!
ME: Ok. What is going on?
CALLER: There’s 4 black kids walking down the street and they just passed my house.
ME: …..Ok. Why do you need the police?
CALLER: Um….I…uh…I think they’re trying to break into cars. Just get over here!
Caller hangs up.
ME (In my head): You racist asshole!!

Here’s the rub though. I can’t just ignore the caller because I think they’re racist. I still have to send an officer out to investigate. What if the caller saw something they didn’t tell me? What if the caller just wasn’t able to articulate what they saw? But now I’ve just put my officer in a situation where it could appear they are contacting the black kids just because of their race. It sucks. I don’t like it. But there’s not much I can do.

I just really wish people would realize that an officer’s first priority is going to be to investigate the situation with the information they have. The officer does not show up just to arrest the minority.