Dispatching

Dispatching can be a very challenging job. We are the first person someone talks to in emergency situations when they call 911. We work alone in this small town in 12 hour shifts and have about a dozen officers total, with anywhere from 1-4 officers on at any given time depending on the time of day/night. The rough part of the job comes with the consistency. It can be completely dead for hours on end and then suddenly can erupt into chaos in the blink of an eye. Suddenly we will get a medical aid, physical fight breaking out, vehcile accident, etc. Than it gets really crazy working alone and doing all the things required depending on the call. We are the conductor in a massive orchestra of life directing various resources to different places. Of course all the while answering the usual bombardment of regular phone calls ranging from absolute stupidity to legitimate problems. During day shift you also get the people walking in the door for various matters. The plus side of living in a small town up in the mountains is the crime rate is pretty minimal. I love raising kids in a town where drugs are very few, no gangs, and you just don't see or here about much criminal stuff going on. Very safe environment. The downside is that unless you really like doing things outdoors, there's not a whole of stuff to do like clubs, amusement parks, or anything like that. Our town is only 7500 people and the largest town in our county (which is, size-wise, the 5th largest in CA). Then of course there is the other advantage of living just across the border from Oregon so naturally most of our shopping is done there where there is no sales tax. So I'm digressing from talk about dispatching and will end it there. Not going to say that its quiet (crap, teh dreaded Q word) cus now that I've said it something's sure to start happening. Oh well, 5.5 hours to go on this shift.