Re: 911:: officers hiding from complaints

[Guest guest]

matthew wrote: <<<if they take forever getting there because they are

trying to get out of it, and something bad happens in the mean-time, I'll go

down with them in the lawsuit....guaranteed. And I don't want to go down

with them personally. >>>

as long as you dispatch the call in a timely manner i don't see how you are

then responsible for a slow response. not your problem. stay focused on

your job. you worry about dispatching your calls per your SOP's or, if your

agency has no SOP's, according to your best judgement and common sense.

don't worry about officers who dawdle. if you get an argument about a call

from a street unit simply ask..'are you taking in the call?' if yes, end of

discussion. if no, advise the street supervisor. don't worry about things

not under your control.

rich

[Guest guest]

> We have several that will stay out

> of service pulling up the

> CAD screen to see what's holding in their beat. If

> they don't want the

> call...they'll stay out of service until the call

> is dispatched.

That is the exact reason why only supervisors can see

what is pending on their MDT's--we KNEW if they could

see it, they would " call shop "

=====

Kim

I make a difference

Tulsa, OK

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

>as long as you dispatch the call in a timely manner i don't see how you are

then responsible for a slow response. not your problem. stay focused on

your job. you worry about dispatching your calls per your SOP's or, if your

agency has no SOP's, according to your best judgement and common sense.

don't worry about officers who dawdle.<

Good advice.

I've worked in a small rural department, no " shift supervisor " no " post

command " ... and I've had some of the same problems mentioned here

with units arguing over calls.

And although it's very tough, trying to do your job as best you can, and

others around you seeming not to care....

Keep in mind... we are COMMUNICATIONS... not Police, not Fire,

not EMS.... COMMUNICATIONS.

Our responsibility is to obtain information, dispatch the call in a timely

manner and support the responding units...

If your records show the call came in at 1802... and you dispatched

it at 1804..... Your " response time " is 2 minutes.... If responders

argue over the call, dawdle, whatever, and arrive 15 minutes later

YOUR response time is still 2 minutes...

We can't make other people do the job the way we think it should be

done... we can only do our part and see that the COMMUNICATIONS

part of the job is handled professionally...

So...

> don't worry about things

not under your control.<

That's the only way I've kept my sanity.

Weintraut

[Guest guest]

<<We can't make other people do the job the way we think it should be

done... we can only do our part and see that the COMMUNICATIONS

part of the job is handled professionally...

So...

> don't worry about things

not under your control.<

That's the only way I've kept my sanity>>

Absolutely! It comes in the ear a jumbled mess and leaves the mouth moments

later clear/logical/understandable. My job is done. The buck has been

passed. 25 years ago it really bothered me, the length of time it takes

officers to get to calls (sometimes an hour or more here where some

districts are 2 or 3 hours wide), but 20 years ago I learned about passing

the buck.

That takes care of my sanity. What is causing the grey hair?

Bob in Tacoma

[Guest guest]

This is a problem in large departments as well. In NYC when priority calls

are on hold for a certain period of time, the dispatcher is required to

notify the precinct patrol sergeant they are about to go into alert. This

is a big deal. First, a precinct going into alert often looks bad on the

departmental statistics, and an inquiry may be conducted into the

management of the precinct. Second, it allows the dispatcher (when the

precinct is in actual alert) to assign a car from a neighboring

precinct. This is generally a no-no as there are rules about crossing

precinct boundaries, and it pisses off the supervisors in the other

precinct who are now short a unit or two. The patrol sergeant has three

options. They can simply acknowledge the warning if they know everyone is

busy, take the call themselves, or ask for a run down (the current

assignment status of each sector). It is amazing how many cars suddenly

become available when central is asked for a run down.

A second game is the " phantom disposition. " For every job the CAD assigns

an estimated time to complete. The clock starts running when the unit

reports they are on the scene (required for most calls). When the time

elapses, and there is no final disposition, dispatch will ask the primary

unit if they are still out. Usually they are told yes, and given an

estimate of when the job might be done, but it funny how many times you

hear, " we gave that back awhile ago central, you must not have heard us. "

[Guest guest]

bob wrote: <<< 25 years ago it really bothered me, the length of time it

takes officers to get to calls (sometimes an hour or more here where some

districts are 2 or 3 hours wide) >>>

i sent a unit to a burglary report once. he acknowledged the call and that

was that. maybe 10 minutes goes by and i see that he has not yet given me

an 'arrival' at the call. i query. there's a pregnant silence. he

replies...'oh yeah. i guess you did give me a call'.

i didn't stress. i didn't worry. not my problem. at least he was honest

enough to admit it on the air without making up some story.

rich

[Guest guest]

>

> A second game is the " phantom disposition. " For

> every job the CAD assigns

> an estimated time to complete. The clock starts

> running when the unit

> reports they are on the scene (required for most

> calls). When the time

> elapses, and there is no final disposition, dispatch

> will ask the primary

> unit if they are still out. Usually they are told

> yes, and given an

> estimate of when the job might be done, but it funny

> how many times you

> hear, " we gave that back awhile ago central, you

> must not have heard us. "

>

>

I wish we had this. The closest thing we have is on

traffic stops. At 20 min, they " time out " and we have

to check their well-being (10-90) 1/2 the time when we

do this, they say they are 10-8. No other calls on

the PD side have this, but the deputies time out after

5 min on traffic stops, civil service and serving

protective orders. However, there are very few

problems with the deputies not going 10-8 when they

are really finished. They are usually clear before

they time out and say so on the radio. It's the TPD

officers we have problems with and it would be sooo

nice to be able to call them on it.

=====

Kim

I make a difference

Tulsa, OK

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Well, that's a thought. How many are out there hiding from complaints? On an

average (not July 4, Xmas, etc.) day how many officers is everyone

accountable for? That would be " working " units, available for dispatch, not

the odd detective or administrator that wanders on and off the air. I, on

permanent (due to age/attitude/hair color)dayshift, normally have 20 to 25

working units on my channel. That's the west side of the county. My partner

on the east radio usually has 10 or so more than I do.

Bob in Tacoma