Re: 911:: Re: I have to vent..........

[Guest guest]

Our center is talking about putting us " on call " .....for no extra pay, but we

would have to be available when they need us. It makes me angry because now I

can't plan on anything on my own time. Needless to say, good people are

running out of that place.

[Guest guest]

Hahhahahahahahahahahha....do u mind if I post that in our center? They really

need the laff...:)

[Guest guest]

You need to check into some labor law on this one ...

Last year someone decided that since we are issued department pagers and we have

a huge staffing problem, it would be a good idea to have us dispatchers in a

" recall " status pretty much all the time, with no compensation. Said person was

even wanting us to call comm center whenever we left the county. Also, someone

else tried to put our bomb-sniffing dog his handler (the unit corporal) on 24-7

on-call status. (We've got plenty of drug/track dogs but he's our only

bomb-sniffer.)

Let's get real. You can't even go out and have a beer with your buddies if

you're on call ALL the time. You can't plan any time with family or friends - so

much for getting away from the job. YOU HAVE NO LIFE.

It got so bad that one dispatcher threatened to leave her pager with a

supervisor, then page her own pager with a resignation letter. (No, it wasn't

me!)

This is something a union or the local/state labor board can probably help you

with.

Sort of on topic ... is it just me, or does everyone laugh hysterically when

they see that commercial (for Corona?) where the guy skips his pager across the

water? During the hurricanes last year I was applauding the TV set when that

came on!

Michele Hriciso

Brevard County Sheriff's Office, FL

Homepage: www.thecluster.com

E-mail: E911Tigger@...

ICQ #28949458

AOL, MSN or Yahoo IM - E911Tigger

Re: 911:: Re: I have to vent..........

Our center is talking about putting us " on call " .....for no extra pay, but we

would have to be available when they need us. It makes me angry because now I

can't plan on anything on my own time. Needless to say, good people are

running out of that place.

[Guest guest]

Boy am I saving this email for a rainy day !!

J. Fred

Salem NJ

RJon wrote:

> This is so far in left field that they cant see the pitchers mound.

> In addition to the legal ramifications, there is the moral ramifications and

the

> job harassment possibilities

> Just the fun part of not answering the phone/page holds oodles of

possibilities.

> Ah la Dave on late nite tv.

> #10. The batteries were dead

> # 9 I lost my pager

> #8 The dog ate my pager.

> #7 I was in the bathtub

> #6 I was on the toilet

> #5 My phone was disconnected, cuz I couldn't afford it on what u pay

> #4 My car broke down, can u send a unit to pick me up

> #3 I was so tired from my last 18 hr. shift, I must have slept through it

> #2 I am too drunk to drive, can one of you assholes come and get me

> And the number one answer is, " I was having an orgasm "

>

> If they fire you for this type of crap, you arn't out much.

> Rich

> 1010WC

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 00-08-25 17:32:56 EDT, you write:

<< ob harassment possibilities

Just the fun part of not answering the phone/page holds oodles of

possibilities.

Ah la Dave on late nite tv.

# >>

Very very good!

[Guest guest]

" A few years ago we had a real problem with overtime. If there was overtime

available, the person stupid enough to answer the phone was the one that got

ordered in. Did not matter how much overtime you had worked "

Wow....I can see the beginning of that...they are sending officers to our

houses too.

[Guest guest]

That's the way it used to be where I'm at ... until everyone got smart and got

caller ID. I was probably the first one to get caller ID because I was waaaaay

down on the seniority list and got tagged constantly. We soon got assigned alpha

pagers.

Some people tried to punish us when we didn't respond to the pagers, but

everyone who has a pager knows that sometimes the page just doesn't go through,

so how can you punish someone for 1) not responding to a sometimes unreliable

source of communication and 2) not responding to a page when they are on their

time off and clearly not on call. So those write-ups didn't stick for very long.

I do know of a dispatcher (not the drinking kind) who used to keep an open can

of beer in her refrigerator ... if she saw a patrol car in the driveway that she

hadn't asked for, she used to go to the door with beer can in hand. No other

alcohol in the house but that one beer can ... they can't make you take a

breathalyzer test for coming to the door with a beer can!

It's really a waste of the officer's time to go to a dispatcher's house to get

them to come to work ... he/she is not my supervisor and really does have better

things to do. The uniform could be interpreted by some people as " you will go or

else ... " That could really cause a problem with some people. We don't go to

civilians' houses and order them to go to work ... someone is bound to scream

right to privacy one of these days.

And of course your neighbors want to know why the patrol car was at your house

(not that it's any of their business) ... that's my pet peeve, nosy neighbors!

Just a few things for those of you facing the situation to think about ... from

someone who has already been there!

Michele Hriciso

Brevard County Sheriff's Office, FL

Homepage: www.thecluster.com

E-mail: E911Tigger@...

ICQ #28949458

AOL or MSN IM - E911Tigger

----- Original Message -----

From: Lyndex3@...

" A few years ago we had a real problem with overtime. If there was overtime

available, the person stupid enough to answer the phone was the one that got

ordered in. Did not matter how much overtime you had worked "

Wow....I can see the beginning of that...they are sending officers to our

houses too.

[Guest guest]

The open beer is new to me, but I recall many officers having a spare dead pager

size battery.

Rich

1010WC

mhriciso wrote:

> I do know of a dispatcher (not the drinking kind) who used to keep an open can

of beer in her refrigerator ... if she saw a patrol car in the driveway that she

hadn't asked for, she used to go to the door with beer can in hand. No other

alcohol in the house but that one beer can ... they can't make you take a

breathalyzer test for coming to the door with a beer can!

>