Understanding The Life Of A 911 Dispatcher & Why Response Time Takes So Long With Riverside Co Sheriff Dept

A message from A local 911 Dispatcher

I have noticed a lot more lately that people posting on the HEMET NEWS FB site are complaining about police wait times, which turns into police bashing leading to 911 dispatcher bashing.

As a 911 dispatcher myself this does frustrate and anger me especially when people are saying and believing that it's the dispatchers fault for the delayed response.

This is in no way true at all, every call is broadcasted and dispatched by priority but we can only dispatch calls if we have a unit available. When you have 4 officers working and are pending 30 calls unfortunately there is going to be a delay, and calling back yelling at dispatch isn't going to change anything.

You can only work with what you have. Also I have seen accusations that dispatchers will delay a response because dispatchers are rude and entitled and feel high and mighty, when in reality we are usually the ones trying to get the calls dispatched quickly to an officer and get the calls out but like I stated before if there isn't an officer available there is nothing that can be done.

And lastly yes sometimes dispatchers can sound rude on the phone but like everyone else there are good and bad days and when your the 100th person yelling and cursing me out on 911 it can take its toll, especially when it's hour 14 in a 16 hour shift or the last call you were just on you heard someone shoot themselves in the head, or a baby taking its last breath with the mother screaming in your ear, or a 5 year old hiding in the closet because daddy is beating and choking mommy.

As a dispatcher we never know what the next call will be and we always have to be mentally prepared but it does wear you down over time. While this is not an excuse for being or sounding rude, People should think about this before complaining. I would like to end this by saying if someone is interested in being educated and seeing what goes on behind the scenes most agencies allow you to do a sit along where you can sit with a dispatcher and listen in as they take calls and work the radio and you can also go on a ride along with police officers as well.

Thank you for listening.

PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW TO SEE WHAT DISPATCHERS GO THRU

ON A SHIFT SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BETER

WHAT THEY GO THRU AND WHY IT TAKES

OFFICERS THE TIME IT TAKES TO RESPOND

IT TAKES SOME ONE SPECIAL TO FILL A DISPATCHERS SHOES.