I do, I work there ..
I figured you did, given your user name of Pdx911. Glad to hear there are people who enjoy scanning who are working within the agencies themselves, as we desperately need "insiders" who can also advocate for the hobby. Thank you for your comments, and for being a part of this forum.
I was a student in the 911 dispatch program at PCC and put in around 40 hours of ride-alongs with police... and another 40 or so with sit-alongs in multiple PSAPs, including BOEC, CCOM (Clackamas, not Columbia... yet), OSP, LOCOM, and even Sacramento. It's truly fascinating work, and the people who take the calls (and respond to them in the field) are truly astounding, top-notch folks. I first began scanning back in 2005, when I was a TriMet LIFT driver, and I wanted to learn how to do my job better by monitoring the dispatch traffic for our drivers.... by seeing how others were working through the challenges they encounter on the road, or in dealing with various passengers. At the time - and I believe this is still the case - the radios in the buses were not set up for monitoring. You could only hear the dispatcher when dispatcher specifically opened a channel to your bus to contact you. It was only then that you could pick up the handset (which looked like an old telephone), and hear them. Otherwise, everything else going on with other drivers, etc, was in the dark... unless you had a scanner.
Before I had the scanner, my manager at the time had called me back to his office and gently advised me (as a new hire) that I was contacting dispatch too often... and that they had "other drivers who needed help too," so they couldn't spent all their time with me.
But since he couldn't listen to the radio traffic either - and was basing that on what the dispatchers had told him over the phone (asking me to contact them less), he was unable to provide any specific feedback or examples as to when I "should or shouldn't" contact dispatch. He hadn't been listening, so he couldn't provide any advice on my specific case, other than to nicely say, "Don't do it so often."
He was a very nice man, and I couldn't fault him for that. He was a great person work with. However, monitoring the airwaves was not part of his job as an administrator. Not to mention, the entire LIFT service is contracted out (no one works for TriMet directly), so he was just a manager at a bus company.... and had never had much to do with dispatch. But I wanted to learn more for myself - so that I could be a better employee/driver - by listening in on what other drivers were doing. Some of us "learn by observation," so I knew that would be very helpful. And that's when I got my first little Pro94 at Radio Shack.... and from then on, it was "love at first sight" for scanning. (Or "love at first listen, perhaps? LOL)
My point is this, however: Scanners can be an excellent learning tool for anyone who is interested in finding a job in public safety, or any other field where radios are involved. When I took classes in 911 dispatch, I listened all the time. And... I still do. If you want to learn to be a good dispatcher, one of the best ways to do it is to LISTEN to other dispatchers, especially with the agency you want to work for. Training for dispatchers at BOEC is rigorous and difficult. I haven't checked into it in a while, but a few years back, the training was at least 6 months long, with a probationary period of 2 years. During the training period, you had to score 90 percent or higher on all your tests.... and once you hit even 89 percent on 3 of them, you were automatically out. Public safety call taking and dispatching requires a high degree of accuracy, quick thinking, a calm demeanor under stress, and an exceptional level of professionalism, across the board. Those who SURVIVE the training are top notch. They cannot accept anything less than perfection in their staff, because lives are on the line.
I've since decided to go in other directions with my life, but the experiences I had on ride-alongs and sit-alongs were truly astounding, and they are times I will never forget. These people hold the very lives of their callers in their hands, and the outcome is critical in these kinds of emergencies. They can't afford to make mistakes. And fortunately, they rarely do.
It's yet another reason NOT to go fully encrypted. Yes, I know some agencies will let a trainee take home a radio for a couple days to listen in, so they can learn. But a couple of days is nothing compared to being able to listen all the time. You can't learn a second language by doing to Berlin for a couple days. You have to KEEP actively listening, actively learning, and paying attention. The caliber of applicants will rise, as will their success rates, by keeping these public airwaves open. I hope you'll pass that along to the agency heads, so they can be aware. I am very glad to hear that some of them monitor these forums. Going to full encryption would be a loss not only to the hobby itself, but to the community as a whole.... and to public safety. Consider this as well: there are off duty officers who also listen to scanners. When a cop was shot in Lincoln City a few years back, there were off duty officers who were able to respond BECAUSE they were able to listen at home for emergencies. One of them went out to set down a spike strip for the assailant, who was speeding away on Hwy 101.
Closer to home, there are Clackamas County officers who listen to OSP in their patrol cars with a scanner. OSP is on a totally different radio system, so they can't listen in on their standard equipment. As you know, OSP is on a convention frequency, and CCOM is on the Clackamas/Washington/Newberg 800Mhz trunk, so they have to have a scanner to listen. I overheard a Clackamas deputy come on the air to tell dispatch he was heading to a certain location to help an OSP trooper nearby.... a trooper he had heard on his scanner. And that is also very critical to public safety. When a trooper is in danger, seconds count. He cannot wait for OSP in Salem to contact CCOM by phone, and then have a Code 3 response dispatched to units who are 5 minutes away.... especially if he needs help NOW.
Granted, the computers are lightening fast, and the time delay amounts to a minute or two or less. And calls from OSP to CCOM and visa versa are routinely handled this way. But what if we were to encrypt OSP and the local officers with scanners couldn't listen in? What if the off duty officers in Lincoln County couldn't hear one of their fellow officers calling in for help after he's been shot? There are only so many "on duty" officers in the area at the time... and they may be 5 minutes or more away. Having the ability to monitor live radio traffic at home (or in one's vehicle) is a critical part of public safety and effective communication, both for the public, and for the officers.
To take another example, what about the 36 Pit Fire burning 3500 acres up near Estacada right now? When the fire lines are changing quickly and winds are high, the danger to the public is immediate, and it can can change from "bad" to "worse" in a split second. Right now, it sounds like evacuations are being done door to door by deputies, who are letting home owners know if they are in Zone 2 (prepare to evac) or Zone 3 (leave now). Of course, there are telephones for that purpose too. But what if the phone lines have been knocked out by fire? What if the deputy can't reach certain home owners because of a landslide or downed tree, or because the flames are too intense in that area? All of those people could have been monitoring their scanners so they would KNOW to leave now, before the deputies even arrive. But if we go encrypted, they cannot.
Granted, scanning is a niche hobby, and not every person living up by the fire has a scanner. But if even one person does, that person can be "on the ground right now," knocking on his neighbors doors, letting them know. Keep the public airwaves open is truly a vital part of safety for everyone. And only live monitoring without encryption can make that possible.
Please pass this and my other thoughts above on to your supervisors. You are right... there are many in the scanning community who are passionate about this hobby. And with good reason. We all live in this world together, and it is vital that we are able to look out for one another.
