Between the ‘regular’ callers, the inaudible mumblers, the complete lack of useful information-givers, and the real-life bone-chilling emergencies, dispatchers have heard and dealt with it all, and like police officers, no one can quite relate to the stresses of the job better than their peers. So what are the tell-tale signs that you’re a seasoned dispatcher?
1. You can understand three different conversations at a restaurant taking place at the same time. — Travis Bell
2. When you are off and still using 10-codes in regular conversation — Savana Hyde
3. When you give the time after you leave someone a voicemail. — Mistie Lamb
4. When you go to take a nap on your lunch break and you dream about dispatching — Letta Baer
5. When you know the address, phone number, and name of your regular [callers] by heart. — Monique Aurielle Rachal
6. You automatically grant lunch to that officer that always requests it at the same time everyday right down to the nanosecond before he asks for it. — Sambath Ou
7. When you have every call nature code memorized! — Mike Calvillo
8. You answer the phone ‘911 dispatch’ when you’re at home — Patricia Harrison
9. When you hear a random office phone ring and you twitch for a split second thinking you have to answer it. — Arturo Lopez
10. When you know you hear officers talking in public before you actually see them. — Amber Olson
