Local dispatchers recognized for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week
Local dispatchers across the country and the Coachella Valley are being recognized for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. It’s aimed at highlighting the work they do and services they provide in helping first responders get to emergency calls.
The Cathedral City dispatch center is the busiest in the Coachella Valley, according to Cathedral City Police Chief Travis Walker, with 212,097 calls fielded last year. The center is unique in that it serves CCPD, the Cathedral City Fire Department, and the Desert Hot Springs Police Department.
Indio and Cathedral City Police honored their dispatchers with a dinner and Palm Springs Police recognized the work of their dispatchers with a post on Facebook.
Busy phone lines are a constant feature at the Cathedral City dispatch center, many calls being taken from concerned citizens.
“We’re the first line,” Kathryn Cox, a Cathedral City dispatcher said. “We’re the ones who hear you, who are there to help you.”
She fields hundreds of calls a day and relays information to first responders on the ground as they respond to them.
“We paint a picture for the officers so they have an idea of what they’re going into,” Cox said.
Painting that picture can be difficult at times as dispatchers have to deal with callers going through a wide range of emotions. The calls they receive could be as mundane such as loud music complaints to life-threatening emergencies.
“People are calling in some of the worst times that they’ve ever had, so you have to know how to talk to them, calm them down, get the information,” she said.
Chief Walker said the work of dispatchers are vital to his department as the information they relay to his officers helps keep them safe. He mentioned the need to build trust between the patrol units and dispatch in order to be a cohesive and effective police force.
“We have to be able to rely on those dispatchers to hear our call for help and then get the appropriate resources because we may not have a lot of time to be able to talk on the radio, whether it’s a foot pursuit or a vehicle pursuit,” Chief Walker said.
For one police cadet, taking calls at the dispatch center has given him a new perspective.
“It’s definitely eye-opening to see what these people have to go through and how hectic it can get in here and the information they have to take in before a call,” Zachary Rubalcava said.
Cox said one takeaway for the public she wanted to highlight was for people to understand their need to ask specific questions during their calls in order to get them the help they need.
“Remember that we’re here for you and the information we’re asking is for your benefit and the officer’s benefit,” she said. “It’s not because we’re keeping you on the phone forever.”
Chief Walker said his department will look to hire part-time dispatchers to help augment the staff it already has in the future.
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