Police Dispatcher / Rotating Shift Work Advice!

[aliss2]

I wouldn't worry about certification. Dispatching for police is more experience-based. If you can read & write well (I assume so, since you have an MA) then that's fine enough.

Turnover in large dispatch centres is quite high but if you find a good small department, it isn't as bad. In one place I worked, you had to wait for someone to die for a promotion! It was a great place.

[BJW50]

I worked as police and 911 dispatcher for 20+yr. There was a lot of down time. I was full time. Part timers were expected to be on call and rotate shifts.

[2nd trick op]

I never did police or any public-sector work, but for two-years-plus, I worked the "trouble board" for a major trucking line -- accidents, mechanical breakdowns, foul weather and miscellaneous issues. I loved the spontanaiety and the need to think both "on your feet" and sometimes "outside the box".

Rotating shifts can mess up your sleep for sure, but I always found "compressed swings" (e g: working a daylight shift, then expected to do an overnight after eight hours off in the afternoon and evening, when sleep won't come easily) a lot harder then when I got a full 24 hours off duty before the change. That's most likely the biggest pitfall I'd be on the lookout for.

[Xposed]

First of all, God bless you. I've been a police officer for 10 years, and before our children were born, my wife was a police dispatcher. A few folks hit on the pros and cons already.

I think the default statement people say is that "They want to help people" when it comes to public service work. That's why I do it, and that's why my wife did it. The reality is, you will spend a majority of your time fielding difficult calls from panicked people about everything ranging from "my kids won't eat their food" to "I came home and my (relative) is dead." The most difficult I saw that affected my wife was not being able to do enough. One of the things about being an officer is, by responding to these calls, you can insert yourself into the moment and have a hands on opportunity to turn someone's life around. As a dispatcher, there were many moments where you are stuck on the phone....waiting with the caller and praying that the officers get there quick to save or help them. That's stressful, and I applaud anyone who wants to do that. The shift work can get old. The best thing that ever happened to me was making detective, because that shift work while on patrol is terrible for your sleep schedule, family life, and physical wellbeing. I have only worked for moderate sized departments, so I'm not sure how small agency work is. I can tell you that the chief complaint I hear from our dispatchers is that working with women is difficult. Without exaggeration, 95% of the dispatchers I've seen employed have been female. I hear that tempers flare and emotions make things difficult. As a result, turn over is verrrry high. Other than supervisors and senior dispatchers, there is a revolving door at many agency dispatch units.

On the flip side, the fulfillment factor can be great. My wife was awarded many medals and commendations for her efforts as a dispatcher including helping someone successfully perform CPR over the phone to save a life, and facilitating the evacuation of an entire apartment building that had gone up in flames. The awards ceremony was covered on television where my wife accepted two life saving awards for her hard work. The other benefit was that my wife learned to effectively multitask like nobody's business. She could type, dispatch, talk on the phone, workout and stir her coffee all at the same time. The ladies at my wife's office would often times cook healthy meals for the unit. Someone would be designated to hit the kitchen while the ladies worked the phones and radios. Many of them also used exercise balls instead of chairs to sit on. They said it helped to burn extra calories and work the core, lol. Working in a larger department, the ladies run ship like a firehouse. There can be some infighting, but some camaraderie as well. In the end, you will learn how to effectively deal with stress while multitasking. That can make some other administrative jobs a walk in the park and can be a wonderful asset while moving onto other careers in life. Best of luck to you!

[celinea]

Thank you so much for your thoughts, everyone!