This is for all the Dispatchers out there!
- Thread starter iMONITOR
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mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
You missed public safety telecommunicator week by just a few days...
Dispatchers have some awesome stories if you ever get to sit down and talk to one off the record. A very twisted sense of humor in most cases.
Dispatchers have some awesome stories if you ever get to sit down and talk to one off the record. A very twisted sense of humor in most cases.
You're absolutely correct! One of my best friends has been a dispatcher in a very small town for over 40 years I believe! He's about ready to retire. I told him he's going to be really bored!
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
When the mics are muted, some of the discussions are hilarious, off colour and probably offensive to some.
I hope your friend enjoys their retirement and finds a suitable hobby.
And every once in a while, over an open mic...😬
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, occasionally. Our dispatchers are pretty good about that.
Off the mic, off the phone, just sitting in dispatch, it's funny as hell, especially when the cops wander through and join it the discussion.
"I've heard things…." Lucky for them, I honor all the NDA type stuff I had to sign. I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing, and I was never there. don't even know how to spell PSAP.
wtp
Member
i have heard things on the scanner and called it in.
one was an escapee from a prison in NJ. red jacket, green long corduroy pants, summertime in NJ that stands out. he got caught across the street. another one was someone selling a 10 speed girls bike, stolen a town away, he got caught a mile down the road.
fatal hit and run in Florida, i did not know at the time. he cut me off and i followed him about 20 miles down the highway.
he turned off on my exit and then turned around, i then found out he was wanted, i want home and called it in.
he was caught about 10 miles down the road, we were doing about 100MPH so it was only minutes.
i can understand what a dispatcher could go through, i did dispatch for a security company and our folks were bad enough.
one was an escapee from a prison in NJ. red jacket, green long corduroy pants, summertime in NJ that stands out. he got caught across the street. another one was someone selling a 10 speed girls bike, stolen a town away, he got caught a mile down the road.
fatal hit and run in Florida, i did not know at the time. he cut me off and i followed him about 20 miles down the highway.
he turned off on my exit and then turned around, i then found out he was wanted, i want home and called it in.
he was caught about 10 miles down the road, we were doing about 100MPH so it was only minutes.
i can understand what a dispatcher could go through, i did dispatch for a security company and our folks were bad enough.
Sometimes I miss it ( sitting at the console ) and most times I don’t.
The best is when dispatch is announcing "Someone has an open mic" OR "Unit XXXX check for an open mic"
Uh.... Yeah.... If they have a mic keyed they are NOT going to hear you.
scanningisfun
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It prompts someone to call their phone. If it’s a conversation that might get someone into trouble, I’d just dead key over it and wait for the indicator to show the transmission ceased.
This has happened LONG before cellphones.
Not always the case. Our portable radios do not go to zero volume, so usually the "open mic" message gets heard and everyone starts making sure it isn't them. We're on a repeater, so it's not a situation of strongest signal wins.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
True, however if they are in a vehicle and the mobile mic dropped down between the seats, the officer may hear it on their hand held.
Or if they are somewhere that another officer is nearby, they'll hear it.
Eventually the time out timer kills it. Usually not a big deal, unless the stuck mic overhears something they don't want heard.
W8HDU
Member
Probably shouldn't mention it, but .... locally we have one dispatcher the scanner crowd nicknamed the "OK Girl". Young female, who when a unit calls will acknowledge with a .400 sec quick transmission "OK", or "K". Not a complaint, but I find it interesting so many scanner enthusiasts caught on to her way of acknowledging the call.
Reminds me of 1978, when Orange County (CA) had a female with a sweet voice doing dispatch on a 38 MHz freq. (I think it was 38.880???) We would hear her in eastern Michigan on the Sheriff band radio. A few times our units would say hello by saying, "Good morning So-Cal, from Lapeer County MI." She would respond with "Good morning, Lapeer. Stay safe." One of the deputys nicknamed her "Skip".
Reminds me of 1978, when Orange County (CA) had a female with a sweet voice doing dispatch on a 38 MHz freq. (I think it was 38.880???) We would hear her in eastern Michigan on the Sheriff band radio. A few times our units would say hello by saying, "Good morning So-Cal, from Lapeer County MI." She would respond with "Good morning, Lapeer. Stay safe." One of the deputys nicknamed her "Skip".
k6cpo
Member
Believe it or not, the US Coast Guard does this all the time when there is an open mic on Channel 16.
If your mic is an "open mic" your volume level doesn't matter. That radio will not receive while it is keyed.
So no feedback from the open mic and another radio in the same cab on the same channel?
I spent 23 years as a dispatcher; having a twisted sense of humor is an absolute necessity in that job....
One of my favorite "heard on the radio" things happened on Christmas Day in the late 80s. Our office was just a few miles away from Don Scott Airport (KOSU) in Columbus. One of our residents had got a new shortwave receiver for Christmas, and was tuning around the band when he stumbled across 515 kHz, which is the NDB for KOSU; the signal it sends is "OS OS OS OS."
This man was convinced it was SOS and wanted to report it; the poor guy sounded almost crushed when I told him it wasn't an SOS, and explained what it really was. I praised him effusively and thanked him for doing the right thing by calling in; that seemed to make him feel better, so we exchanged our "Merry Chistmas" greetings and that was that.
I almost hated to have to tell him what it actually was. Of course, I think I was the only dispatcher in the Columbus area who even knew what it was....
We had a similar situation at the fire department I worked at for several years; our primary frequency was 33.92, and every so often on a Sunday morning, we would hear a county in California doing their radio and roll call checks where they go through and check each station (Station 10, Station 20, etc).
When they finished we would respond with "Station 160 clear" to which the California dispatcher would respond "thanks Ohio, you're loud and clear!"
Good times.
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RFI-EMI-GUY
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I miss being able to monitor FHP dispatchers always saying "Veee-Hick-EL"
Must all be lower Alabama gals.
Must all be lower Alabama gals.
