Full Notification

DATE AND TIME OF PRESS RELEASE: April 11, 2011 at 1600 hours


II. TYPE OF INCIDENT/SITUATION/ANNOUNCEMENT: National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week


III. FACTUAL INFORMATION:

This week, April 10-16, is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. This official
acknowledgement of public safety dispatchers who handle communications for police, fire, and
ambulance units was approved by Congress in the early 1990’s.

In 2010, the dispatchers at the Livermore Police Department answered about 155,000 emergency
and non-emergency phone calls that came into our dispatch center. Of those, about half of these
calls required police or fire department units to respond. The rest were calls from those seeking
information or assistance of some other type.

Livermore Police/Fire Dispatch duties include handling communications for all police, fire, and
medical calls in Livermore, as well as fire and medical calls in Pleasanton.

Dispatchers also handle a variety of other calls, including those for:

-LARPD rangers
-Animal Control
-Street maintenance or traffic signal problems
-Persons needing referrals to other community resources such as legal aid, homeless shelters,
civil issues, rehab programs, family counseling, and other public services

The job of a Public Safety Dispatcher has evolved considerably over the last half-century. The
early days where an officer or clerk might have simply answered the phone, relayed calls over a
console radio, and kept a paper log have given way to a highly technical, multi-tasking
environment that requires dispatchers to undergo extensive training and develop a strong skill set.
Dispatchers are expected to handle whatever calls for help come in, whenever they come in…
whether it’s a major emergency or a minor problem. They do this while providing simultaneous
information exchanges with field units and tracking everything using multiple computer systems. A
police or file call can also require research from a variety of databases to enhance first responder
safety or help resolve a situation.

People will call the police department when they don’t know who else to call. Dispatchers handle
calls 24/7/365, and are there ready to assist - when reaching voice mail is just not an option.

IV. LOCATION OF INCIDENT: Livermore Police Department

Should you require further information please call the contact person designated in this press release.

Steve Sweeney
Chief of Police

Police Department 1110 South Livermore Avenue www.ci.livermore.ca.us
Livermore, CA 94550 TDD: (925) 960-4104