You definately click with the personalities of the dispatchers and many officers when you listen long enough.
Having been in the hobby SO LONG, I can make several interesting observations.
1) Recognizing the channel just by the dispatchers voice.
2) An interesting observation that the same voice ALWAYS seems to be dispatching for my town (don't these people take a day off or is it just that I am at work when another dispatcher is on?)
3) I can tell if the dispatcher is having a bad day (not up to their usual standards)
4) I could tell when the dispatcher for my town left and started dispatching for a neighboring town (later confirmed)
5) Felt embarressed for the "voice" I came to know and love when she was admonished on the air by a sgt. for improper use of the radio. I felt so bad for her getting chewed out like that, but she did have it comming.
6) Actually met an NYPD dispatcher who dispatched my PCT when I lived in NYC. Met him upstate hunting. It was like meeting a celebrity (and of course he looked nothing like I imagined he did)
7) Personally know someone who dispatched for NYS Police and ABSOLUTLEY HATES the fact that she knows I listen to her. Beleive it or not she is shy and while has no problems dispatching, doesn't want her friends hearing her working.
Finally and most importantly, I love hearing a really good dispatcher. Many of the small towns are just too laid back (as they should be). I love listening to well disciplined, well trained, cool and composed dispatchers especially when things are getting HOT. There are some outstanding dispatchers on NYPD and there are some real bone heads that I hate to listen to. If you listen across the river to NYC and you start to hear a PCT dispatcher freak out if things start getting serious in the field, you (along with the officers in the field) breath a sigh of releif when you hear the supervisor take over and bring the voice of experience to the air. A good dispatcher can make a BIG difference for the officers in the field. The field officers are the ones under fire and in the heat of battle. The calm voice on the radio is there to reassure them that help is on the way and to do their best to keep things calm and try to prevent chaos from developing. And even though we get to sit safe and secure listening, like the officers in the field we recongnize a few dispatchers voices and know that they are ready for anything the shift might bring. The only difference is the cops may know the dispachers name and face, but for us they are just a voice.
