Dispatcher and Cop:
A Special Relationship

Dispatchers in some cases may know the personnel that they are dispatching, while others may not, due to the size of the agency or the geographic area which is within their jurisdiction.

There are significant differences in dispatching police, fire, or medical personnel due to the different nature of assignments that each discipline deals with. For example, almost all fire and medical calls are received at a 9-1-1 center, the dispatchers alert the appropriate fire, ambulance, or EMS unit which responds to the call from their home station, and the dispatcher usually had radio contact until the unit arrives on scene, where they initiate contact with whoever is requesting help. There is a minimum of at least two individuals responding to medical calls, three or more to fire calls.

It's somewhat different for police officers, who usually patrol alone. For this reason, at least, law enforcement officers need to recognize that their radio and their dispatcher is a vital link to their survival, and thus a special relationship must develop between officer and dispatcher.

The dispatcher is responsible for the officer and is trained to check on that officer's welfare at regular intervals. This sounds reasonable enough, but a problem arises when officers initiate vehicle stops and fail to notify their dispatcher of the location and nature of the stop. This situation seems to be more prevalent during daylight hours. Some officers become complacent during the day and feel continual status updates with their dispatcher is not necessary. One veteran officer who works a permanent 12AM to 8AM shift admitted to me that he never radios in his car stops, only doing so if a problem exists. This is a problem in itself.

Some officers become frustrated when a dispatcher does not give them an immediate response and as a result they don't bother reporting in when they make a vehicle stop. Officers must realize that dispatchers are responsible for numerous other units and their specific needs. Dispatchers, on the other hand, must realize that officers are dealing with situations under potentially volatile conditions, and may not have the patience they might normally have under less stressful circumstances.

Recently I telephoned a state police station to advise them of a recovered stolen automobile. The combination call-taker/dispatcher who answered the phone was trying to communicate with a state patrolman on the radio. She commented that the officer didn't understand that, due to radio interference, she was unable to understand his message clearly (and he was clearly becoming impatient!).

Francis Holt wrote an article in the November/December, 1997, issue of this magazine, entitled "Top 10 Things You Should Know About Dispatcher Stress." Point number 4 was titled "Get to know the other players in your sandbox and then play nice!" Holt pointed out that dispatchers and field personnel are like couples who fight with one another because each presents a target of convenience for the other, or else because neither knows what the other went through that day. He suggested that the key to defusing the problem is cross-familiarization. This could consist of dispatcher ride-alongs, where dispatchers could see just what the officers are dealing with in the field and the reasons an officer may not be able to reply to their call immediately or why officers might need to have a message repeated - there are noises and distractions in the field that officers need to be cognizant of or which may simply obscure the sound of the radio. Understanding this could reduce the assumption by the dispatcher that the officer was inattentive or lazy.

Having an officer spend half a shift in the communications center would allow him or her to see what else is happening behind the scenes other than their dispatcher waiting eagerly for his or her next message. Simply transmitting a message does not always mean the message was heard, especially when the dispatcher is also responsible for call-taking and monitoring other radio frequencies. Understanding the dynamics of the dispatcher's side of the radio could reduce the assumption by the officer that the dispatcher was incompetent or inattentive. Or lazy.

Familiarity breeds respect, and a healthy working relationship is born.