Police Telecommunicator Series

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Employees in these positions serve as initial departmental contact with public both by telephone and in person; also receive, interpret, and transmit messages and information for a law enforcement agency and/or fire departments using a variety of telecommunication equipment (such as telephone, two-way radio, teletype, and/or computer terminal).

At higher levels of the series, they supervise or administer varying segments of the campus public safety operations. They may also become involved in maintaining liaisons with other safety or security agencies, in the development and implementation of contingency plans for emergencies, and in the establishment/maintenance of good community relations as well as provide first-line supervision to subordinate telecommunicators to ensure that the communication room provides effective and efficient telecommunication services; and, to provide staff assistance towards the management and administration of the Police Department.

DESCRIPTIONS OF LEVELS OF WORK

Employees in positions allocated to this level receive, interpret, and transmit messages and information for a law enforcement agency and/or fire departments using a variety of telecommunication equipment (such as telephone, two-way radio, teletype, and/or computer terminal). They work under general supervision of higher level personnel.

A(n) Police Telecommunicator typically -

1. receives and interprets in-coming citizen complaints, inquires, and reports of emergency and non-emergency situations; logs, coordinates, disseminates, and maintains records of messages; may initiate police reports of incidents; originates and disseminates information regarding safety and well-being of law enforcement officers and citizens including mass e-mail, text messaging and/or monitoring surveillance videos, etc.
2. operates equipment of a communications control center to receive and transmit police business and emergency messages; may monitor and provide base-station service for multiple police and citizen-band radio channels. Makes emergency notifications at the direction of supervisory personnel, as well as by procedure.
3. operates terminal connected to federal, state, or local law enforcement information systems (such as Law Enforcement Agency Data System, LEADS, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System; or National Crime Information Center) and/or a departmental computer to enter or retrieve information for the purpose of gathering, verifying, or maintaining data; interprets responses of the data systems; recognizes malfunctions of the terminal and assists system personnel in the correction of problems.
4. assists in the training of student or replacement telecommunications operators or interns.
5. controls access to police station by requiring proper identification and/or escort.
6. processes routine police enforcement documents and records.
7. operates and monitors the control center of a computerized fire/security alarm system; dispatches firefighters or police officers as necessary or dispatches police, fire/EMS as necessary when called by fire/security alarms companies.
8. may monitor local weather warning system and broadcast severe weather notices as directed.
9. receives, secures, and maintains records of lost-and-found property.
10. performs related duties as assigned.

Employees in positions allocated to this level perform general telecommunicator supervisory work and provide staff assistance towards management and administration of Police Department. They also receive, interpret, and transmit messages and information for a law enforcement agency and/or fire departments using a variety of telecommunication equipment (such as telephone, two-way radio, teletype, and/or computer terminal). They work under general supervision of higher level personnel.

A(n) Police Telecommunicator Supervisor typically -

1. supervises and coordinates the activities of designated personnel in order to assure compliance with department goals, policies and procedures, as well as with specific individual instructions.
2. ensures that the communication room is adequately staffed on a 24/7 basis.
3. coordinates the hiring process for new telecommunicators.
4. ensures that all telecommunicators are properly trained to respond to routine and emergency-related matters. This includes emergency notification systems for the entire campus. Assists in the training of student or replacement telecommunications operators or interns.
5. receives and interprets in-coming citizen complaints, inquiries, and reports of emergency and non-emergency situations; logs; coordinates, disseminates, and maintains records of messages; may initiate police reports of incidents; originates and disseminates information regarding safety.
6. monitors and evaluates the job performance of subordinates.
7. serves as a liaison with sworn officers from other jurisdictions.
8. performs duties of the next lower level of this series.
9. performs related duties as assigned.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE QUALIFICATIONS

CREDENTIALS TO BE VERIFIED BY PLACEMENT OFFICER

1. No record of conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
2. High school diploma or equivalent.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs)

1. Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
2. Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
3. Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
4. English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
5. Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
6. Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
7. Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
8. Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
9. Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
10. Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
11. Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
12. Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
13. Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
14. Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
15. Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
16. Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
17. Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
18. Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
19. Working knowledge of National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) and/or Incident Command System (ICS).

CREDENTIALS TO BE VERIFIED BY PLACEMENT OFFICER

1. No record of conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
2. High school diploma or equivalent.
3. Two (2) years (24 months) of full-time experience as a Police Telecommunicator/dispatcher or a certified 911 operator with a federal, state, county, college or university, municipal, or public institutional police organization having a recognized merit system.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (KSAs)

1. Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
2. Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
3. Public Safety and Security — Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
4. English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
5. Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
6. Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
7. Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
8. Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
9. Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
10. Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
11. Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
12. Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
13. Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
14. Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas verbally so others will understand.
15. Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
16. Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
17. Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
18. Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
19. Working knowledge of National Incident Management Systems (NIMS) and/or Incident Command System (ICS).
20. Ability to lead telecommunicators and command their respect.