Radio DispatcherAt — Orange County Sheriff's Department

Our Radio Dispatchers receive approximately 2,500 calls per day and ensure that Deputy Sheriffs are provided with the information necessary for them to serve our 13 contract city partners as well as all Orange County unincorporated areas. They must apply techniques and methods of 9-1-1 call taking and radio dispatching involving emergency public safety operations. They are required to handle emergency situations requiring independent judgment as to course of action where unprecedented situations may arise. They must use multiple systems for emergency and non-emergency issues in adherence to departmental policies and procedures. They must be able to read maps and learn geography, obtain information from callers and determine type of action to achieve successful problem resolution.

Tasks:

The student will be required to work independently while answering both emergency and non-emergency calls as well as dispatching calls for service. During these times, they will be required to apply de-escalation, crisis intervention and stress management techniques in order to obtain all necessary information from the caller and relay the information to the field units. The student must be a critical thinker as unprecedented issues may arise, and they will be expected to formulate a plan of action without assistance in order to best resolve the issue at hand.

Training

The student must complete initial orientation that will go in depth on departmental policies and procedures. The student will be monitored on a daily basis and receive immediate feedback of performance. They will also receive monthly written reviews of their work to ensure all goals and objectives are being met. The student will also have access to topic-specific training modules (e.g. callers in crisis, dispatcher wellness, strategic communications).

Learning Outcome

By the end of the internship, the student will be able to:
1) make sound decisions while under pressure
2) utilize de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques
3) apply stress management techniques