What is the job of a dispatcher?

Answer 1

A dispatcher is the main line of communication for the police (and at many agencies, the fire and EMS response as well). Dispatcher often will answer several different phone lines, generally including 911 calls (or 999 in the UK), to ascertain information and decide whether a response is necessary. Dispatchers have several tools at their disposal, but they most important are their phones, and their radios, which they use to communicate with their officers/units. Some agencies also monitor alarm systems, cameras, administrative phone lines, elevator emergency lines, emergency counseling hotlines, and more. Using a system called NCIC (in the united states), and their respective state's criminal information system and DMV records, a dispatcher will assist officers in clearing people, vehicles, and serial numbers on anything to make sure there are no criminal records in the database. Dispatchers can also tell officers basic personal information about a party that they run, up to, and including driver's license status, SSN, registered addesss, height, weight, eye and hair color, and how many times that person has been "run" through the system.

Basically dispatchers serve three purposes. First, and most importantly, to monitor the safety of the population they are responsible for, and the officers/units under them. Second, a dispatcher is there as an emergency lifeline for citizens in need of emergent, or non-emergent help. Dispatching is a very public relations, community oriented job. Last, a dispatcher is there to assist the units under them with anything they can. From Google to NCIC, dispatchers use they can to make sure the people they work with have the information they need in a timely and efficient manner.


Dispatchers need to be very detail oriented, efficient typists, and extremely good at multi-tasking. The job of a dispatcher often requires that you be working on several things at once, carrying on multiple conversations at once, and keep your cool while doing so. It can be extremely difficult to be a dispatcher, but it can also be very rewarding. Dispatchers also generally work in 24 hour call centers, meaning a dispatcher must be prepared to work shift, weekends, and holidays. Emergency services doesn't have a day off!