QPP 27: Interview with a Baltimore City Police Dispatcher, Larry Williams
Peter’s been speaking with Nick for a while about interviewing a dispatcher, because, as he said, “I don’t think many people outside policing understand the relationship between dispatchers and the police.”
Peter tells a pretty great story of a woman named Yolanda who worked at a local Dunkin’ Donuts in Baltimore. She was so remarkable at handling multiple things at once and staying calm that some Baltimore City Police Department officers tried to get her a gig as a dispatcher. It didn’t work out, because Yolanda couldn’t take the pay cut. That says a lot. The starting salary in Baltimore for dispatchers is about $38,000.
In this collegial interview with his former Baltimore City Police Department dispatcher, Larry Williams (who is now a dispatch supervisor), Peter and Larry talk about life as a dispatcher.
In a wide-ranging interview, Larry reveals some little-discussed attributes. “My personality is calm and patient,” Larry says. All cops know how valuable that is. “If they get really excited, I get real calm. Them hearing me calm will let them feel a little bit more comfortable.”
“The job is always stressful,” Larry said. “You need to learn how to separate the job from your personal life. I don’t think you can carry it home.”
Peter asks what the dispatcher sees on their computer screens, and Larry describes the windows that shows the calls pending, and how the dispatchers prioritize calls.
Larry talks about how officers can be more effective when it comes to dispatch relationships. Dispatchers in Baltimore handle about 15 officers or cars at any given time, and Larry says that he keeps a mental image of where they all are at any given time. That’s not a prerequisite of the job, but it’s how Larry does it, and it sounds very much as if it helps. “I know the neighborhood,” he says.
What does dispatch need to do better?
“An upgrade.” He’s talking not just about systems, but of salary, training, and working conditions.
Do you pick on certain cops?
“Not normally,” he says, and then laughs, “Well, we’ve been known to…” leading Peter to say, “Ah, so it is true!”
There’s also a discussion of how dispatch works and what they do after an officer is hurt or shot. From planning routes to the hospital to providing support and comraderie to the officers on the street.
We hope you enjoy the discussion, and if you have other ideas for interviews you’d like to hear, we’d like to hear about them.
