SPEAKING OF TRAINING

Question: Only in Comm:

1- How many (supervisors) do you have running your training department?

2 - Approximately how many positions (including vacancies) does your Comm Center have?

We have a training coordinator that oversees the hiring and firing process. But its the shift supervisors who over see the trainees. We have 3 shifts and 3 supervisors assigned to each shift. The trainers that the trainees are assigned to do the daily observation reports and the shift super does their weekly evals as well as writing their probationary evaluations after their 6 month training period is over. And this is just a guess but I would say we have at least 10 openings. But, we do have people that are in the background process that are potential employees. So its really hard to say officially how many openings we have. But like any other comm center we have a high turnover rate. So it could be more or could be less.

Thanks for your response, Tampa PD!

Can you tell me what your approximate minimum staffing level is per shift? Or how many personnel each supervisor has immediate responsibility over?

The minimum staffing for day shift is 20, Evening shift is 21 and mids is 17. Depending on what day of the week it is and what shift you are assigned to will deteremine how many people that the supervisors over see. So it could be up to 21 at any given point.

That's quite a bit of staffing per shift. Do you dispatch fire/rescue too?

No we only do Police Dispatching. Fire rescue is in the same bldg as we are but all our medical calls are transferred to them. Our call volume is much to high for us to be able to do both.

We have a training coordinator that oversees the hiring and firing process. But its the shift supervisors who over see the trainees. We have 3 shifts and 3 supervisors assigned to each shift. The trainers that the trainees are assigned to do the daily observation reports and the shift super does their weekly evals as well as writing their probationary evaluations after their 6 month training period is over. And this is just a guess but I would say we have at least 10 openings. But, we do have people that are in the background process that are potential employees. So its really hard to say officially how many openings we have. But like any other comm center we have a high turnover rate. So it could be more or could be less.

manatee is similar. there is a chief dispatcher that is in charge of training. there are 4 dispatch squads w/1 supervisor and 1 OIC per shift. i'm not 100% sure about the training paperwork, cause i dont train, but i think the training officers do the DOR's & the Supervisor does everything else. we have several openings too. the trainees can usually get thru the call taking training but no one can get thru our radio training and if you don't get thru any part of it, they will let you go. i think the last person that completely passed training was like a year ago.

I appreciate all your responses!

For comparison's sake, we have 3 shifts, we're at "bare bone" minimum staffing due to shortages (20 vacancies): nights 16, eves 18, days 18 . We have 4 line supervisors per shift, 1 admin supervisor (per shift) and way too many training supervisors who coordinate our "COUNTLESS" applicants, who are just knocking down the doors to get a job with us.

(ok, maybe 1 or 2 applicants)

ps: our line supervisors 'man' working positions, - radios, phones, etc.

Clearwater has 3 squads on nurse type schedules of 5 8's. Each squad has a supervisor, but they are on 4 10's (which is what we all were on before staffing shortages changed that) so I believe we have 4 plus a lead supervisor.
We do Police only and are at about 1/2 staffing with more folks getting ready to retire or move out of state. The unreal turnover rate does not help, then again, neither do the rumors of a potential S.O. takeover. I think we are down to 28 employees from 40. Maybe from 5-7 on the floor at any given time. Not everyone can do all 3 positions due to levels of training (call, info, and dispatch). We should have about 9-11 people on each squad. Hope that helps.

PS Tampa - How do you guys keep your sanity over there? WOW!

Hey Clearwater, Man it sounds like you guys are in really bad shape. 5-7 people. If 911 knew we were working so far below are minimum staffing levels they would probably pull our licenses. lol That is craziness. Ive been here a long time so I have seen harder times. But hey I know what its like to have to work with 11 on the floor and 8 of those are frequencys. So we usually combine a district (we have 3 districts and two frequencys per dist) and have 1 person for wants and warrents. But were like any other agency. A seriously high turn over rate. I dont know the remedy for it. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. They leave as fast as we hire them. But we are a public safety institution so us hard core people stay and work our butts off when were short. What else you gonna do. I would like to say it's gonna get better but it never does. lol Be safe everyone. And to all the agencies.. Just keep on pluggin. :lol:

Sounds like it's the same no matter what agency you're at. I'm at a smaller agency (Highlands county) and we just consolidated with Sebring PD. We're getting ready to consolidate with EOC dispatch, where we'll take over medical and fire also, and we're so short staffed it isn't even funny. We have the same problems keeping trainees. If they hire five or six at once, then three or four months later we're lucky if one of them is still there. Everyone seems to do okay until they hit the radio. Only one of the Sebring PD dispatchers that come over with the consolidation made it through our training. I doubt that many or any of the EOC ones will stay long, since they're used to only medical/fire dispatch, and they have a much slower pace over there. One thing our agency does that I HATE--someone comes in with an application for a position elsewhere in the building, either administrative or something else, and if there isn't an opening there, they talk them into putting in for dispatch. We end up getting people who not only have no freaking idea what a dispatcher even is, or what we do, but it's not the position they wanted anyway. So we waste our time training them for a couple months before they predictably walk out. Or else they tell them that the opening they actually want will be available in a few months, and meantime why not work in dispatch? So they put them with us, and when months go by and their promised position never opens, they get disgruntled on top of it. It's hell, I tell you!

Behind the mic, I know the feeling.. We all here in my dpt are going thru the samething. Unfortunally our recruitment office place people in our dpt to warm chairs, meanwhile possitions for police offcrs are open!
We are understaff, only 4 bodies per shift! So dont feel that bad!

DO YOU HAVE AN 'SOP'?

Are you asking if they have Standard Operating Procedures? If so can you be more specific? I didnt quite understand your post.

Sounds like the turnover issue runs rampant among our agencies. We're a consolidated center and I believe at one time in the last 10 years (since consolidation) we were at our all time low of 5 vacancies. We're back up to 20 vacancies now.

An average of 2 full time employees come from a batch of 5-7 applicants. *And yes, many of our recruits are rejects from other divisions.

The hiring process from application to start of training can take from 2 months to 6 months. What job-seeker can afford to wait around for a job that long??? Not to mention a job where you have to work shifts (probably nights because you have no seniority) your days off rotate, you will probably be working most of the holidays, and you're lucky if you are able to take a vacation when you want one.

You will always have a core of career employees; (we've been here 15 years, why bother starting over somewhere else), but in order to maintain and retain the rest of them, the pay has to be attractive enough to compensate for the lousy hours, the stress and the lack of recognition involved in this 'thankless' job.

Then there's the discouragement and aggravation you feel after devoting almost 3 months training somebody, who then decides this job isn't for them.

It's no wonder we get cynical and bitter. But I love my job!

WE HAVE 1 SUPERVISIOR AND RIGHT NOW WE HAVE ONE OPENING (HOPEFULLY TO BE FILLED SOON ) WE WORK 12 HOUR SHIFTS APPROX 14 DAYS OF THE MONTH THERE IS ONLY ONE DISPATCHER ON SHIFT WE RUN THE RADIO , ANSWER 911 CALLS , DISPATCH FIRE AND RESCUE , DISPATCH UTILITIES , TELETYPE AND FCIC NCIC AND ALL NON EMERGENCY CALLS , BASICALLY WE DO IT ALL . GRANTED , WE ARE A SMALLER AGENCY AND OUR CALL VOLUME PROBABLY ISN'T AS HIGH AS THE REST OF YOUR AGENCY'S

We have a pretty big center- all state of the art. Truly a great work environment from someone who's had previous experience in other comm centers.

We offer a choice of 2 schedules: 12/8/12/8 with 3 days off, or 5- 8 hr days (2 days off). 3 shifts, 4 floor supvs per shift 1 operations spv per shift.

Positions manned 24/7: 5 on Fire; 5 on Law radios with 8 call takers during peak hours and 4 call takers during the 'wee' hours.

All floor personnel are 'required' to work 4 hours OT per week, we do everything possible to avoid mandating folks to work.

We have part-time personnel and deputies/detectives that help out with the overtime.

We have tons of overtime, I don't know how it all gets covered, but I'm always grateful that it does.

Our 15-20 vacancies (depends on the day of the week), is and always has been the root of all issues. Higher salaries would be a plus, but the powers that be keep talking 'budget cuts'.

We have our share of finger pointing on who or what is to blame, I won't go into that because the last thing I want is to turn this topic sour.

Only one piece of advice: Show your people that you appreciate them.

hey sarasota, from manatee.. r people passing ur training over there? does whoever is in charge of ur center(director/head dispatcher) ever work a position? shift supervisor? several of us would like to be able to sign up for 4 hours of ot a week but instead we have a ot calendar that we sign up for a month advance, so if theres no ot on it then theres no guaranteed ot, which sux. if someone calls in sick, theres a list they call people to see if they want it. we HAVE to carry a pager every 4-5 wks depends on staffing. if ot on the calendar doesnt get covered, we get MANDATORIED in. we work 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, so one week we work 2 days the next week we work 5 days. and we can be mandatoried in up to 5 days 1 week & 2 days the next week. ive only been here a few years and i dont think anyone has had to get mandatory all 5 days, but 3 for sure. we r losing people cause they cant pass training. we also have deptuies and other employees that work ot we love them for helping out.

Are you asking if they have Standard Operating Procedures? If so can you be more specific? I didnt quite understand your post.

Sorry, that's what I ment to say... Do you have the STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES?

All floor supervisors work positions, the 3 operations supervisors don't have to work the floor, but most do, sometimes as a last resort, but its better than nothing. The center manager (Captain), got himself trained so he could also 'man' the phones, and the operations manager helps out alot, usually the worse hours (3am to 7am).

It's a morale booster when you see everyone pitching in.

As far as overtime goes, - we have a book that contains all the PRE-PLANNED OT...current month's overtime and the upcoming month's overtime, the book gets updated almost daily, there's plenty of overtime for everyone. Only the supervisors carry pagers.

The last minute overtime is usually the toughest to cover.

**Regarding the training program, - since we started using criticall & talent plus, the quality of applicants has improved, - and most have passed training. HOWEVER, the quantity of applicants that actually make it to training -has taken a dive. We're told it's due to the "lengthy hiring process" or they're not passing the backgrounds. That's being addressed as we speak, so we hope to see improvement.

For the person inquiring about SOP's - we got 'em, and then some.

I have a question....who's using a Quality Assurance program?

We have SOP's. I beleive most city government agencys do. And we have quality assurance. The shift supervisor must do 3 QA's on each employee per month. Our phone calls are monitored then critiqued. Whether good or bad it goes in what is called our pending file. Its a jacket that we keep all sorts of paperwork in for that evaluation year.

You want a good laugh? Talk about background checks, we had an applicant a while ago get arrested at the interview. She had a warrant for obtaining property with worthless checks. Some people have no clue...and they want to work in dispatch. LOL.

thanks for the info. our 2 head honchoes dont help man the center at all.
(i can assure u they cant even work the radio)
they will be quik 2 change how we do things, but aren't the ones working the center to know how things r. (lets make it more difficult for them because thats what we want.) maybe if they'd sit out there every once in a while they would see y we all get so frustrated. its easy to say lets change this when u arent the ones dealing with the stuff everyday. do ur higher ups ever ask the dispatchers for opinions on anything b4 up and changing stuff?

Procedures are occasionally changed without floor opinion, if it is a change that is requested by one of the agencies we serve...(We're technically under SSO management, but we serve the city police, Venice Fire, Nokomis Fire, Northport fire, etc)...So if any of those agencies request a change in how they get dispatched or what they get dispatched to, we normally do not have a say in that.

On the flipside...it's survey central on what chair you like best! :lol:

Top Comm (Admin) Motto...You will NEVER make everyone happy!
Top Comm (Floor) Motto.....CYA

I dropped out of the dispatcher training for Manatee. I can't speak for the radio training, but I can for the call taker stuff. The biggest problem that I saw is tons of book work for things that you don't really need to know at first. I can't belive I had to check off the fact that I know how to use a stapler or load paper in a copier.

A lot of the problem comes from the attitudes of the trainers. Some try really hard but simply should not be teaching. Making someone read the same GO a million times does not mean they can do something. Getting upset when someone misses something small is uncalled for.

When it comes to actually doing 99% of the job (taking calls), there is very little practice other then listening and watching others. I grew up watching sports games on TV, but I wouldn't expect to hit a baseball if I hadn't swung the bat a little first in practice. Yeah, I'd have the general idea, but when someone threw a curveball, it'd always be a swing and a miss. On top of that, there is an impatient "you are inferior" vibe coming from a lot of the dispatchers which doesn't help morale and a lot of confusions about how to do certian procedures which confuses trainees even more.

I enjoied my few months at MSO, but in the end, there are tons of better jobs out there.

Oh ye of little faith. You have no problems till you work in my center. The last in the county to get a CAD system. We have had it for just under a year, and we still do not have an updated SOP's for either Road Patrol or Communications. We are so under staffed that we are forced to take mandatory on-calls on Fri/Sat/Sun - the average is 6 4 hour blocks that the dispatchers have to take each month. We are not compensated for that time, and if we are called in we do not receive call out pay that every other unit get's when the get called out from home. Our center is staffed with all new personal that are being rushed through training just to get them out of the way. There is a major gap in the expierence level in the center, I am the senior person on Charlie Shift with just under 5 years on the job. My other dispatchers (when they are there and not banging out sick) have less then 5 years on the job put together. I don't even want to mention Alpha's gap. Let's see 28 years of expierence, the next person has a little over a year on the job. We have a Manager that can not preform the basics that a call taker could do on day one. She can't work the phones, the radio, or the CAD - Side note on the CAD she was in every meeting step by step of CAD from birth to going live. Can she work it no, can she work a channel for 2 minutes, no. We have been dealt a bum deck, and I have to work with it. What's the worst they can do, put me on midnights with Tue/Wed off ?

Oh ye of little faith. You have no problems till you work in my center. The last in the county to get a CAD system. We have had it for just under a year, and we still do not have an updated SOP's for either Road Patrol or Communications. We are so under staffed that we are forced to take mandatory on-calls on Fri/Sat/Sun - the average is 6 4 hour blocks that the dispatchers have to take each month. We are not compensated for that time, and if we are called in we do not receive call out pay that every other unit get's when the get called out from home. Our center is staffed with all new personal that are being rushed through training just to get them out of the way. There is a major gap in the expierence level in the center, I am the senior person on Charlie Shift with just under 5 years on the job. My other dispatchers (when they are there and not banging out sick) have less then 5 years on the job put together. I don't even want to mention Alpha's gap. Let's see 28 years of expierence, the next person has a little over a year on the job. We have a Manager that can not preform the basics that a call taker could do on day one. She can't work the phones, the radio, or the CAD - Side note on the CAD she was in every meeting step by step of CAD from birth to going live. Can she work it no, can she work a channel for 2 minutes, no. We have been dealt a bum deck, and I have to work with it. What's the worst they can do, put me on midnights with Tue/Wed off ?

MOTHER OF GOD!!! I get left out again? I know who you are and you know who I am. I've got just over 3 years of experience and am on midnight/afternoon(whichever they decide to put me on this week) just because I'm leaving soon doesn't mean that I'm gone. BTW you forgot to mention that we have 3 lead dispatchers and that we're understaffed by atleast 10. We have a relatively small center where days get approx 14 ppl, afternoons gets 7 or 8 and alpha is lucky to get 5 lol. But that goes back to our glorious leader. We also just got a Lt. stationed in dispatch who hopefully will start to correct the many probelms that we have.

Hey iTo, dont you guys have a union???????? How about checking into labor laws? That CAN NOT possibly be legal!!! They can not require you to be in an on call status and not pay you for it, how can they justify paying every OTHER DIVISION in your agency for their on call time except for Communications?? Its called time to check into Federal and State labor laws and get cracking. Geesh and we thought BSO had it bad. All I can say is "WOW".

MOTHER OF GOD!!! I get left out again? I know who you are and you know who I am. I've got just over 3 years of experience and am on midnight/afternoon(whichever they decide to put me on this week) just because I'm leaving soon doesn't mean that I'm gone. BTW you forgot to mention that we have 3 lead dispatchers and that we're understaffed by at least 10. We have a relatively small center where days get approx 14 ppl, afternoons gets 7 or 8 and alpha is lucky to get 5 lol. But that goes back to our glorious leader. We also just got a Lt. stationed in dispatch who hopefully will start to correct the many problems that we have.



Hey iTo, don't you guys have a union???????? How about checking into labor laws? That CAN NOT possibly be legal!!! They can not require you to be in an on call status and not pay you for it, how can they justify paying every OTHER DIVISION in your agency for their on call time except for Communications?? Its called time to check into Federal and State labor laws and get cracking. Geesh and we thought BSO had it bad. All I can say is "WOW".

Alright this is going to be a two for one deal. I will respond to the last two posts in one.

Sorry, but what can I say out of site out of mind, I know you “were there” however you were on leave. Yours being justified not because you went out drinking all night and you think that people are talking behind your back. Oh my god I called out sick yet again, do the people that got mandated for my sick time again hate me ? What do you think boyo ? I got nothing but love for you and you really did get the short end of the stick on that there deal.

As far as a union goes, no. You know how it is, what's the point joining a union. I was a member of the union in my last city but it was a general employees union. So we have all of public works and utilities and every other person in the city all lumped into one. Do you really think that they are going to care about our issues. Do they work 24/7 ? NO ! Are they on-call ? Well maybe a select few are, but they are compensated for their time. As far as being on-call and not compensated for it, well I don't think the city even knows about it. Everybody is very strong in their convictions until it comes time to put there name down on paper and stand up for what they believe. In the past any time somebody has done it they are met with nothing but the cold shoulder and suffer the consequences of the higher ups who brought forth this policy. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place with only a slight glimmer of hope.

Ok but does that violate any labor laws, if so, wouldnt the Whistleblower law apply to you? Now I dont really know the specifics, so I am only asking.

I dropped out of the dispatcher training for Manatee. I can't speak for the radio training, but I can for the call taker stuff. The biggest problem that I saw is tons of book work for things that you don't really need to know at first. I can't belive I had to check off the fact that I know how to use a stapler or load paper in a copier.

A lot of the problem comes from the attitudes of the trainers. Some try really hard but simply should not be teaching. Making someone read the same GO a million times does not mean they can do something. Getting upset when someone misses something small is uncalled for.

When it comes to actually doing 99% of the job (taking calls), there is very little practice other then listening and watching others. I grew up watching sports games on TV, but I wouldn't expect to hit a baseball if I hadn't swung the bat a little first in practice. Yeah, I'd have the general idea, but when someone threw a curveball, it'd always be a swing and a miss. On top of that, there is an impatient "you are inferior" vibe coming from a lot of the dispatchers which doesn't help morale and a lot of confusions about how to do certian procedures which confuses trainees even more.

I enjoied my few months at MSO, but in the end, there are tons of better jobs out there.

You dropped out....and why was that really? Could you not grasp it? Were you not getting the scores needed to pass? Did you not get hired by MSO because of your background? HMMMM several of us are curious.......

Back to matters at hand with my agency. So now we have a new boss, he has taken the time to sit down and talk with parts of the center. He has spoken to one shift, you has the loudest mouths. Nag nag nag, they say. Trainees are being rushed through too quickly. Need I remind them that those trainees were being rushed through since she was pushed through because she was needed to cover your annual leave time for the holidays. Becareful what you wish for you may get it. An unbalance of power you cry, the shifts are not balanced. Well if you keep it up your senior behinds may be moved to help balance the shifts out. All you do is complain about things all too loudly. What you are doing is scaring the hell out of the new people and putting the fear of god in them about things that they need to no worried about. Stop scaring them and let them learn. I am sorry you earn too much annaul leave time, and need to burn it. But how many of you are on the shift ? How many times do you get denied leave time ? Never, look at the other two shifts that have to beg borrow and steal to get their time covered. Becareful, of the worthless claims of people favoring ones over the other. There are all untrue. Have you forgotten that we are working together and maybe my helping somebody out is what I am supposed to do? I know you do not get that cooperartion on your shift. So do not think you know what takes place on my shift. I dare you to work in my place and see if you would not do the same. With all your time in grade you should know the difference between the two. On another note, our non dispatching manager is now trying to learn how to dispatch. Trained by her lap dog that will see no fault in her, except behind her back and cries that she keeps giving her work to you. Stand up for yourself and stop complaining. I am only now starting to do the same and trying to break the cycle of apathy that I have been under. In the future I will be stronger, and you should be prepared for it. Stop calling out sick because you went out drinking last night with the devil of our shift. Sit down do your job and shut up. If you take medication then take it, if you don't go get some. Half of my staff is either bi-polar or manic depressive. I feel that I am working in high schoool with a bunch of 13 year olds in heat that are dying to screw anybody with a badge and a gun. Stop husband shopping and do your job that you are being paid for. If you don't I will do my best effort to see that you do not collect your paycheck. Not a threat but a promise. I am sick of being too quiet and from now on they will know that I am there. I may have been quiet but I hear all. Gone are the days that you can tell the world that you are calling out sick only to appear at the bar that same night and worse have your picture posted on my space drinking. Step up and help your co-worker and don't whine that nobody likes you, they are sick and tired of being mandated to cover your sick leave. I don't care what your issue is get a freaking tissue. This is not a game but a job, if you don't like it then leave. Go run home to momma, and cry about the big bad wolf that you think is picking on you. If you did your job why would I pick on you. I am sick and tired of the BS that goes on, and my bosses that allow it to go on. Stand up and be a man about things, don't smile to my face and stab me in the back. FTW of better yet FPPD