Cops

WHO AM I?

~ I am the invisible hand that holds and comforts a distraught child who has called in because his parents are having a violent argument ~
~ I am the friend who talks the depressed teenager out of ending her own life ~
~ I sent help when you had your first automobile accident ~
~ I am the one who tries to obtain the information from callers to ensure that the scene is safe for those I dispatch to emergencies -- all the while anticipating the worst and hoping for the best ~
~ I am the psychologist who readily adapts my language and tone of voice to serve the needs of my callers with compassion and understanding ~
~ I have heard the screams of faceless people I will never meet nor forget ~
~ I have cried at the atrocities of mankind and rejoiced at the miracles of life ~
~ I was there, though unseen, by my comrades in the field during the most trying emergencies ~
~ I have tried to visualize the scene to coincide with the voice that I heard ~
~ I usually never have closure over a call, and so I wonder ~
~ I am the one who works week-ends and crazy shifts and holidays. I am at this vocation by choice. Those I help do not call back to say "thank you", but there is comfort in being there for them, in the challenge, integrity and purpose of what I do.
~ I am there when you need me, and still there when you don't ~
~ My work is never done. I am always on call. The training is strenuous, demanding, and never ends. No two days of work are ever the same.

WHO AM I? I AM PROUD TO BE AN EMERGENCY
DISPATCHER FOR THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE

YOU

MAY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE
AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING

GOD

MAY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE
AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING

DISPATCHER

You have the bladder capacity of five people

You get impatient listening to others relate a story...you want "just the facts, ma'm"

You believe that 90% of people in your community do not know how to buy a map or look up a telephone number

Your idea of a good night is an armed robbery with injuries result-
ing from a high speed chase

You get easily bored with happy, content people

You check the computer for your teenager's latest boyfriend

You can talk on the phone, listen to the radio, type a request into

KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE, AND
WHAT YOU'RE DOING...
I HOPE THAT YOU AND GOD
ARE ON GOOD TERMS.

YOU MIGHT BE A DISPATCHER IF...

BUT UNLESS YOUR

the computer, while listening to stories of Norma's, Sherry's, or Patti's grandchildren and take down a recipe for low-fat cheesecake at the same time

You can give directions to any location in town off the top of your head

You can relate a 10 minute story over a two hour period, after many interruptions, without losing your place, and no one will miss a sentence of it

You see stress as a normal state of life

You refuse to allow anyone to say, "Have a quiet shift!"

Your friends and your neighbors call you for legal advice

You can tell anyone the directions to any given bar in your jurisdiction

You know the phone number of every restaurant or business that

You spend almost as much on fast food as you do on your utilities

You truly believe stupidity should be painful

You have ever had to put the phone on hold while you laugh
hysterically

If a deputy screamed over the radio that a nuclear bomb had just been detonated, you would ask the location and assign it a case number

You hear sirens screaming past your house and wonder, not what's going on, but who's going

You read the newspaper account of a major incident that occured on your shift and can point out all the incorrect information

You have no idea what a holiday is, other than it's the day when everybody gets drunk and beats up their family members

You can carry on 4 conversations simultaneously

You inform your teen-age driver: "I will ALWAYS know"

You have ever muttered the phrase: "They let him/her carry a GUN??"

delivers food, especially late at night.

You view caffiene as one of the major nutritional minerals.

You tell cops where to go without fear

You spell everything phonetically

YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN A DISPATCHER TOO LONG WHEN.......

"Deputy Scott Miller faxed me this a couple of years ago, and I still get a laugh out of it, because it is so true!!! And this is how we feel after we've finished a rough shift!"

THE AFTER-WORK LOOK

Lord, they are in Your hands tonight - and mine,
these guys who wear the brown and fight the crime.
I cannot see the scene from where I sit,
I listen for their "l0-4's", watch my console brightly lit.
I know a part of them few others ever see -
I know their faults, each one's eccentricies.
But Father, they see things Your children shouldn't see...
a battered child, a senseless wreck, and many tragedies.
Give me the grace to speak so calm and clear
to those out on the streets while I'm in here,
for I'm their link, You know, and they are mine -
together we are partners fighting crime.
I pray that You will guide, protect each deputy -
they're more than friends I work with, Lord...
they are also family.

Amen

A DISPATCHER'S PRAYER

Every dispatcher has war stories to tell - calls that have left them
at the point of tears, or hysterical with laughter. A dispatcher needs the back of a duck (for frustrations to roll off of), the ears of a bat (to keep up with the phone calls and the radio and your fellow dispatchers), and the kidneys of a camel (able to go long distances and hold your water). Just about the time you think you're going to have a boring night, and everything is quiet, all hell will break loose. A dispatcher must be able to handle all kinds of calls...from the most simple to the most horrific, and stay calm while taking the information and dispatching it to the patrol deputies on the road. You are their safety net. You make sure they do not walk into an unknown situation that will be dangerous to them personally without being forwarned. Their very lives can depend on whether or not you get the correct information and all the facts they need. It is no wonder we feel connected to these people...they are ours for 8 hrs a day to take care of, and protect. They are our family.

MY BADGE

by: Sergeant Pattianne Travers, Communications TCO III
Caddo Parish Sheriff Office Badge #897

This is my commission card...we renew these every four years. I fussed at the photographer when he took this picture..."You didn't give me time to smile!", I told him. He said, "You're not supposed to smile...you're supposed to look fierce." So here I am, looking fierce.