2nd sit-along at the City of Paso de Robles

[Guest guest]

The Paso Robles PD on-duty sergeant approved a second

visit this evening (despite having been shown my

earlier post describing LAST night's visit) <grin> and

I arrived about an hour before the change of shift

between Lori and Tess Serna. I stayed just

under 4 hrs.

One major difference from the previous night: I got to

see their CAD screen with NO pending or active

incidents! ( " Oh, so THAT'S what it looks like! " )

Didn't last long, although it never got REALLY busy

for extended periods of time. After Tess relieved

Lori, I got the tour of the station that Deleena had

not had time to provide Saturday night. (Hadda wait

for one fella in custody to be moved from the " intake "

area

into his cell before that portion of the facility was

open for a visitor like me.)

Kind of typical Sunday night, what with the various

domestic/child custody " issues " around kids returning

- or not - to custodial parents. These calls either

tied up a dispatcher on the phone to explain things or

actually burst into disputes requiring unit response.

(And one guy in custody - without even any kids

involved - got that way because he just didn't " get "

what an Emergency Protective Order really meant; he

resisted understanding it well enough to earn a trip

to county jail.) My my my - I'm more used to hearing

THAT kind of language over the phone, not loudly, in

person, and echoing off facility walls!

Around 1840 or so, Lori got a flurry of calls and I

picked up a non-emergency line only to hear the CHP

Comm Center down here announce the transfer of a

medical emergency - whoops! I got her attention REAL

fast and she took that line while I answered another

couple calls. I didn't even see her dispatch medics

for it on the fire channel while she continued to

speak with the caller. VERY smooth. (Later we

figured out I missed it because I was busy in my

temporary role as PRPD call-taker, listening to a

helpful citizen's report of a possible drug

transaction he THOUGHT he saw " go down " at a local

convenience store.)

There were two medical emergencies dispatched during

this visit - there hadn't been ANY on Saturday night.

Lori had been telling me about a 9-1-1 hang-up that

had occurred earlier in her 12-hr shift, as a typical

example of a domestic squabble which required officer

response, when the lady at that same house dialed

9-1-1 again - right in the middle of Lori's tale.

(Just goes to show ya that you CAN invoke these

things...) The units went out there a total of 3

times before they brought the soon-to-be-ex-husband in

for booking. (He was the loud, foul-mouthed unhappy

guy who HAD been fairly calm the first couple of times

they responded - first, early in the day, 2nd to be

served the EPO and get some of his property as a

result of that action, and the third time because he

decided to pound on a back window and demand that the

RP let him in so he could get the rest of his

@! & $##@)* stuff.)

A few traffic stops, a DUI arrest, some neighbor

complaints, this report of an abandoned vehicle, that

report of a " stolen vehicle " (that wasn't), two

medical calls, lots of other " dispatcher handled w/out

unit response " incidents. Fair amount of activity for

just under 4 hrs, with only one dispatcher on duty at

a time. I only answered about four calls, total, to

help either Lori or Tess out while I was visiting.

(This is the moment when I publicly thank their

sergeants for granting me the privilege to help 'em

out - and I sure didn't want them to wish they hadn't

allowed me to assist during those flurries.)

My grey eyes did turn a little green with jealousy at

their full Internet access - not just e-mail - right

at the same terminal as their CAD/RMS screens.

Both Lori and Tess were just as pleasant and positive

as Deleena had been; with me, in person and on the

radio with their field personnel and in dealing with

the public, and I don't think they were only putting

on a good front for my benefit. After all, we

DID natter about meaningful stuff and compare

experiences as similarities arose. Truly nice gals.

They're terribly excited about the (much larger) new

facility that's being built right in their back lot as

a combined Public Safety facility (not just separate

PD here and the main FD across town, as it is now). I

got to see the floor plan and artist's rendition of

how the exterior should look.

And the warm, balmy evening breezes only brought in

one creepy critter, this time. It wasn't a trophy bug

like the one I captured Saturday night. We THINK

they're cicadas. Whatever they are, they ain't

crickets (Deleena had one for comparison last night),

they're larger than grass-hoppers and they fly noisily

like freakin' mini-helicopters!

I suppose I should admit that it's far better to deal

with the occasional big bug than it is to find black

widow spiders - in abundance - like we can find

outside my Comm Center on a regular basis. Or the

intrepid field mice that occasionally settle in during

the winter months. Finding evidence of mouse is far

creepier than experiencing a cicada in the Comm

Center. My friends at PRPD shouldn't be dismayed that

a bug or two startled me - 'cause those experiences

are tame, compared to the bat that smacked into our

open back door one late summer night. (The kind that

navigate by radar and eat bugs, not the ones usually

used at baseball fields or in the hands of bad guys!)

Thanks again, Deleena, Lori, and Tess - I enjoyed

every moment. But I'm kinda weird that way. <wink>

=====

Happy to be here, proud to serve.

Olmstead

http://www.gryeyes.com

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