On-line Edition Dispatchers urge others to join in their ranks By AL CAMP Dims lights, a soft yet insistent telephone pulse, a few quick words. Directions come in rapid-fire precision at the sheriff's department dispatch center, which typically handles 11,000 phone calls each month. But the communications center, hidden away in the basement of the sheriff's department, is finding it increasingly difficult to attract dispatchers. A typical shift of two dispatchers and a supervisor handle the county's emergencies as swiftly as they do regular phone or radio traffic.
Dispatchers are the first to respond to calls for help, sending fire or ambulance crews.
They also handle various complaints around the county, can locate a deputy with a couple key strokes and even monitor Enloe Dam in case of a breach. Connie Humphrey, who takes over command of the center at the start of the year. At dispatchers' fingertips are various computer screens that tone emergency crews, and provide logs of officers' travels, criminal warrant information, vehicle registrations and maps of the county. A full staff should include 12 people. As of Dec. 11, the center was short a dispatcher.