This Week, Give Thanks to Public Safety Telecommunicators

The following information was provided in a press release.

This week, April 14-20, is dedicated to the men and women who serve as public safety telecommunicators.

The staff of the Troy Police Department’s Communications Section provides the point of contact for Emergency Services for the citizens of Troy and Clawson. Highlights regarding the Communications Section are as follows:

• Staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• Comprised of 21 department employees (one sergeant, eight communications supervisors and 12 police service aides).
• Communications supervisors are also responsible for supervising the 12 police service aides assigned to the lock up facility and the communications and lock up sections are broken down into two platoons, four squads each.
• Responsible for receiving "9-1-1" and "non-emergency" calls for service for the Troy and Clawson Police and Fire Departments
• Receive an average of 28 calls per hour between 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and approximately 444 calls in a 24 hour period.
• Handle all requests for emergency medical services for Troy and Clawson.
• Utilizes the latest computer aided dispatching software program which is also equipped with an automatic vehicle locator to determine where the nearest police units are in relation to the locations where officers are being dispatched.
• Monitor all external and internal police CCTV security cameras. Also upgrading systems to monitor other city facilities such as the Recreation Center, Training Center, and DPW.

In 2012, the Troy Police Department Communications Section handled 40,163 9-1-1 calls, 58,057 non-emergency calls and placed 37,910 outbound calls for a total of 136,698 calls. These phone calls generated a total of 52,144 reported and dispatched incidents for both cities.

The week was first conceived by Patricia Anderson of the Contra Costa County (Calif.) Sheriff's Office in 1981 and was observed only at that agency for three years. Members of the Virginia and North Carolina chapters of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) became involved in the mid-1980s.

By the early 1990s, the national APCO organization convinced Congress of the need for a formal proclamation. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) introduced what became H.J. Res. 284 to create "National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week." According to Congressional procedure, it was introduced twice more in 1993 and 1994, and then became permanent, without the need for yearly introduction.

The official name of the week when originally introduced in Congress in 1991 was "National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week." In the intervening years, it has somehow become known by several other names, including "National Public-Safety Telecommunications Week" and "International Public Safety Telecommunicator's Week."

The Congressional resolution also stated there were more than "500,000 public safety telecommunications specialists," although other estimates puts the number of dispatchers at just over 200,000. We expect the Congressional figure includes support personnel and perhaps even those in the commercial sector of public safety communications.