Communications
Seymour Police Department 2016
The Seymour Police Department Communications
If the Street Patrol Division is the foundation of the department, then the Communications Division is
the steel reinforcement within that foundation. Communications' primary function within the police
department is to dispatch officers to complaints and provide information to the officers upon dispatch
or request. Thus the name "dispatcher" is often used when referring to a member of this division.
Dispatching, among other duties, can be a complicated and tedious task at times. Dispatchers
become multitaskers, and are required to man the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatching) Console
consisting of the phone system, CAD (Spillman) Computer, the 911 Emergency Console, and the
NCIC/IDACS program which links our dispatchers with the BMV's and warrant advisory systems
nationwide. A dispatcher, at times, will be accessing all of these components at the same time to
obtain information for the responding officers, dispatch the officers to the complaint, and dispatch
and direct emergency calls to the appropriate agency (i.e. fire and ambulance).
The Seymour Police Department currently maintains two dispatchers on-duty at the same time.
Dispatchers are responsible for up to 9 officers at one time while answering 7 different phone lines.
Prioritizing is a key skill within this job and shouldn't even be considered without it. There are three
separate shifts for dispatchers at the Seymour Police Department which provides communications
24/7. This leaves a dispatcher on-duty 24 hours per day, and 365 days per year (Including holidays).
In addition to the above mentioned responsibilities, the dispatcher's position does require some
clerical work. The dispatcher answers the phone and directs it to the appropriate employee, takes
phone messages, types reports, files paperwork such as citations and 911 printouts, monitor
surrounding agency radio traffic and provides information to citizens about non-criminal matters such
as school closings, weather conditions, and general directions. Another responsibility of the
dispatcher, but not the final, is to monitor the weather conditions for the local area as provided by the
National Weather Service. The dispatcher must then activate, when required, the local warning
system to advise the local community of the impending severe weather.
Communications
Officers
Toby Ortman
Lorrie Pearson
Mary Black
Elizabeth McKinney
Briana Bible
Eric Browalski
Brittany Kinworthy
Lou Ann Morris
Joshua Daniel
Jenny Hammond
Armando Pasillas
Communications