Dispatchers rule!

[kirch]

Unlike some officers I've seen posting here and other places;) , I have a great deal of respect for those who chose to make dispatch their profession. Have I sucked up enough yet? Good.

Now, a question for those of you who have experience on the dispatch side of things.

When I was in field training, my FTO taught me that I was to notify dispatch every time I take some action. Stopping a car for a traffic violation? Notify dispatch. Stopping at a business for some follow-up? Notify dispatch. Helping get Mrs. Friddlemeyer's kitty out of the attic? Notify dispatch. You get the point.

Then I picked up an additional LE job with another department. My FT for that department was significantly less, once I proved I knew most of what would normally be taught. But a couple of the FTOs I worked with made a point of telling me it was not necessary to inform dispatch of every little thing. I regularly saw these officers make traffic stops without ever notifying dispatch of their location. The same went for doing door checks, taking a walk around the park at 4:00 a.m. and so on. When I asked about this, I was told that dispatch is busy and doesn't need to know your exact location at all times.

Now, this is a fairly squared-away department -- small, but well funded with a good chief and seargent running things. So it's not like we're talking about some back-***, old school agency (apologies to you back-***, old school officers). This is really just the one area where the actions don't seem to mesh with the rest of the way they do things.

So, you current and former dispatchers out there -- is there such a thing as too much notification? Keep in mind I'm not talking about the Chatty Kathys that get on the radio and start telling their life story. But does it get to be a bother, for example, if an officer is doing a lot of traffic enforcement and calls out the location of each stop?

[retdetsgt]

I can't speak for dispatchers, but there were some cops I'd like to give a dummy microphone to play with so they wouldn't bother the rest of us. Some people just like to hear themselves, I guess.

Instead of just giving a code and location, some feel it important to give a play by play description of everything they think they might be doing and who they're going to talk to. When I was an FTO, I made my people keep any broadcast short and to the point. The last thing we need is someone trying to get on the air with an emergency and some dink is describing his next vehicle stop in minute detail. Give a make, color, lic # and location and shut up. No one cares if he was speeding, running lights or has an equipment violation. If you are in a little town and don't have much air traffic, I suppose it's okay, but our air was busy 24-7 and airtime was precious, although some felt entitled to use it as they pleased.

There used to be a guy at my precinct and on my shift that drove the rest of us nuts. Everytime someone broadcast suspect info, he got on the air with this monologue of who he thought it might be. He had no idea of course, he just was trying to impress somebody.

[shooter1201]

99% of the time I notify dispatch when I make a trafic stop, fuel up, etc. I don't necessarily notify them when I'm out of my car at a convenience store on a break, eating with another officer(who DID check out), etc.

[PeteBroccolo]

Our dispatch centre personnel WANT to be, and our Force's policy is that the dispatch centre personnel SHOULD be, notified about all of our vehicle stops (licence number, jurisdiction of issue, location and vehicle description), change of radio channels and other times we are out of the vehicle (location, reason) but it is REALLY hard getting through to them, due to the number of cars that they monitor at any one time.

However, for those lucky few of us with the mobile work stations in our cars that are connected to the dipatch system (yippy for me!) we can maintain our status by text messaging. The dispatch centre personnel still see the messages, but no longer have to receive the information by voice then enter the data manually onto the dispatch system themselves.

[flatbadge]

I was a dispatcher for San Diego PD prior to becoming a deputy 12 years ago.

Stops and stuff are officer safety. There is a lot of other stuff you really dont need to advise dispatch.

If you have a vehicle mobile data terminal, use the computer to put yourself out on non-essential traffic.

[dmedic]

You question reminds me of a saying I once heard. It went something like this:

You may know were you are, God may know were you are, if dispatch dosnt know were you are, then you and God better be on good terms!

It is a safety issue, it is hard to speak and give a good location if you are seriously hurt. Call on all stops, be short and to the point.

[Bob L]

Short,Precise,and to the point radio transmissions. And when you go out on a job TELL YOUR DISPATCHER. It's for our own saftey.

[MrJim911]

I'm a Dispatcher and have been for 6 years. ALL traffic stops should be called out. If I ever hear of one of my guys going out on one and not calling it out, we would have a discussion afterwards. If your sopping at the local gas station to fuel up or have a coffee then I really don't, technically, need to know. If you want to send me a little blurb on the MDC that's fine too. But you never know what might happen even if your not on a call... Putting yourself on something via MDC depends on your SOP's. Officers here are not allowed to change their own status. They have to tell dispatch in some fashion. Traffic is always over the radio so everyone hears him/her go out on it.

If your out at the PD taking a leak..I don't care... :D

Just use common sense.

[sflcop]

Here is how it works in S. FL. If I am out of my car for anything other than to get a drink or something of the sort, dispatch knows. It is SOP that we have to tell them when we are doing any type of police activity. We are not allowed to do this over the MDT or telephone (got my *** reamed once by a LT), must be over the air for all to hear. It is also very humerous to hear someone clear to go someplace, and not give a reference. Dispatch will ask what the reference is and all you hear is "personal," Is their anymore of an apparant way to tell them... and the rest of the world that you are going to be taking a crap? :D :D :D

[Stump]

As a dispatcher,it is my number one priority to keep my cops safe. I can't do that if they don't advise me of their location.
In the summer, it is non-stop in our city, and I can barely get a word in edgewise, let alone the cops.
However, we have an administration channel that can take traffic stops, and the cops can put themselves out on their own stops. Dispatch can see that they are on a stop, and I always voice out their location when I check on them (at around the 4 min mark) "1Adam12 - status on stop at Walk/DontWalk?" That way everyone knows...
We don't have excessive chatter from the cops (although I have babbled before), and if we do, and we are busy, I tell them to zip it.
Transmissions of traffic stops are completed in 8 seconds - no description of car unless it doesn't match the plate info. It works out well.

I don't care if cops call out for everything - its my job to know where they are. Its not like I have to run down to that location every time and bring them coffee or something!

[Frank Booth]

but there were some cops I'd like to give a dummy microphone to play with so they wouldn't bother the rest of us. Some people just like to hear themselves, I guess.

My pet peeves (other than what RDS mentioned): When dispatch gives out a description and someone asked "Do you have a better description?" And worse than that is when dispatch actually DOES have a better description but didn't give the whole thing out for some reason. Or when there's a robbery and someone asks "Which way did he go?" As if the dispatcher wouldn't give that info. out as soon as they were able. Or, when dispatch gives out an armed robbery in progress to the primary cars, or something similar and before they can give out descriptions, directions of travel etc. everyone and their brother is on the radio saying that they're going to make it too. Either assume that everyone else is going to that run, unless there is more than one hot run being dispatched at the time, or start driving that way and wait until the important stuff is off the air before you tie it up by letting the world know that everything will be OK because you're on the way.

I also hate when guys ask dispatch what they should do, ie. "Do you want me to arrest him or just advise and release?" Whether your dispatchers are cops or civilians, they're not the ones on the scene. You're in charge. The dispatcher's job is to let you know where you're needed and to give you other important information. Their job is not to make decisions for you.

Oh,....and since I'm on a roll here...an unrelated pet peeve...sorry....I hate when cops ask a supervisor over the air to make a decision for them when the supervisor is not at the scene. Half the time, the supervisor will tell them what to do from somewhere other than the scene, only to find out that he wasn't told the whole story. "Why didn't you TELL me the guy was a .42 when you asked me if you could release him?!?!?!" (After they let the guy go and he walks in front of a bus because he's had a fifth of Jack Daniels.)

[Stump]

Oh my... since we are getting into pet peeves... LOL
-- When I give out a "shots heard - nothing seen" call. I'll say "for the report of 7 shots heard at the corner of Walk/Don'tWalk - nothing seen". Then I get cops going, I inevitably get some yahoo of a cop that says "Any other calls on this?" What, do they think we withhold that kind of thing???? One day I want to say "Oh, since you asked sir, we received 20 calls and oh, 3 people are down. I wasn't going to tell you, but since you asked... "
-- When I give out the robberies - our operators job is to put the job in as soon as possible, then add to it with the additional as soon as they get it. I'll put out "armed robbery occuring... gun threatened and displayed". I'll get my guys started, and smack 'em with the additional as they are enroute. Believe me, I want to get out suspect info asap because they could be driving right past him. But I still get the yahoos -- "Any direction of travel? Description?". OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!!! I didn't know you needed a description of the suspect in order to catch them. This is my first day out of the hole in the ground I live in. I thought suspects all had signs they are required to wear that said "I just robbed this joint". Argggggg!!!!
Thank goodness a majority of my boys know I am a damn good dispatcher and anticipate their needs, so they don't ask. However, there is always one new guy who gets WAY too excited.

[sflcop]

While we are on pet peeves. Officers who decide they want to give a disertation over the radio. Make it short and sweet. No one cares why you made the decision made. Example would be that you go to a 911 hang up. Officer comes on the air, advises accidental and codes out the call which is fine. Then you have officers that will do that, but go through a 2 minute speech about why it was accidential, what happened, what he said to the people about it, etc... No one cares. You are tying up the air, when someone may need to call out something much more important. Last night for example... I saw a suspicious vehicle with its parking lights on. I call it out, walk up on it, and see in the passenger seat a male with 2 xanax bars on his lap. He tries to hide them. I go over to the passenget side and he gets out and drops 10 pills on the floor. Him and I get into a physical altercation, to the point that he was sprayed. I could not get on the air to have my backup step it up cause I was fighting with this guy in front of his house, with a few people watching. Some moron was telling a story about some needless ****. Finally got on the air and the whole shift came code. Needless to say dispatch tore him one.