Police Services Board member impressed with how 911 dispatchers do their job
Some eye-opening numbers revealed to the Niagara police services board concerning the amount, and types of calls, police receive, and through 911.
Communications administrator Robin Johnstone says there were over 207,000 calls to 911 by early December, and they average 750 non-emergency calls a day.
She reflects on what's happened over the years. "When I first started working in the communications unit, 30 years ago, they had on a white board that their busiest day of the year was an ice storm, when they had 232 calls in a 24 hour period... last year, we took over 1,600 calls, in one day, when we had that winter storm."
She adds they want to start more training sessions due to the changing nature of calls.
Meanwhile, a board member is very impressed with how well dispatchers in the 911 call centre handle their job.
Pat Chiocchio says he recently spent 3 hours with staff. "They're dealing with crisis situations all the time, and it's call after call, and I was just amazed at how they gathered so much information for the officer in just seconds, and how they just de-escalate the situation."
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