Celebrating National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
[gtxvideo vid=”JPgSFT4h” playlist=”” pid=”2gxTqEDg” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/JPgSFT4h-120.jpg?cachebust=1460673183010″ vtitle=”WAKA_2016_04_14_17_01_59″]
Dispatchers are the first voice the public hears in the time of a crisis.
This week they are being recognized as part of National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Dispatchers say the job is not easy and officials say it takes a special individual to get the job done. Jo Lashley, a dispatcher at the Troy Police Department says there are many things that factor in to being a dispatcher.
But first, it is important to get callers to remain calm on the other line.
“You have to deal with the background noises that are going on. You have to deal with other audio input so you’re having to pick and choose which parts you really need to pay very special attention to,” says Lashley.
In the last year, dispatchers at the Troy Department answered over 23,000 calls.
