warry0r

This is one of our dispatch terminals. This one is called the "driver's seat", since it has more of the vital functions that some of the other stations lack.

http://i.imgur.com/Vz8ZzbJ.jpg

With the high volume of illiterate and unwanton calls I recieve on a weekly basis, I'm beginning to lose my faith. But there's always that "call" where people are genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of their fellow citizens, and that to me, restores a little tiny bit each time.

The worst call I've ever recieved would probably be about a lady who killed hundreds of cats by drowning them in her own home. I love cats! Though I prefer dogs more.

Broken water lines. Always the broken water lines. And non-vicious animal control calls. It's very repetitive, but most people treat the center as an "information hub", and it's always important to treat your callers with respect and professionalism, seeing as how our verbatim and conversation can affect the public's confidence with their city services and employees.

Of course! Communication is key. If you have to leave your station for any reason, communicate that to your police officers as much as possible (FIRE/MEDICAL personnel don't really need to know this info UNLESS they are out on a call).

Also, my superiors are big on radio professionalism here, and it's always a juggling act when it comes to relaying information from a 3rd party to your responding units. And remember; radio traffic can usually be picked up on civillian airwaves unless it's an encrypted channel, so there's a high probability that people are listening in.

Last thing: it may be tempting to share your side of the story with the media, especially since we have a "front-row" to most emergency situations taking place. But such divulgence of information can affect the investigations of any call.

The worse calls I have gotten would probably be suicides. No family ever wants to come home and find that.