An evening with Belknap County dispatch: Just as many emergencies, fewer resources

LACONIA — It was eight minutes into Rikki French's 12-hour shift when the first phone call came in. It wasn't an emergency, just a resident looking for information about a previous call that recently became an active case. French, the Belknap County Sheriff's Department dispatch supervisor, listened to the caller, and jotted down her information with a well-practiced hand that seemed autonomous of its owner.

After the call, French returned to checking her five computer monitors, and speaking with her two co-workers for the evening, dispatcher Madi Hartford, and trainee Dale Brown. Accompanying the three dispatchers was Signal 1000, the sheriff's department cat, who slept between two desks on a fleece blanket.

Hartford and French are two of three full-time dispatchers for the entire department. For years, the center has struggled to keep staff due to the demanding schedule, and at times, lower pay than that of neighboring towns. Single towns often have more dispatch staff than the county.

“We have five full-timers and an additional position. We have six now,” said Laconia Police Chief Matt Canfield. “We do have part timers. We use them for extra coverage or sometimes in the summer time during events like Motorcycle Week, sometimes just to cover vacations.”

“I've been a dispatcher here for four years in February,” French said. “This year was my one year supervisor anniversary.”

During those four years, French said the department was fully staffed for only one week.

“Since [William] Wright's been sheriff, we got approved for an eighth position,” French said. “Pretty much the whole time I've been here we've had under seven.”

Normally the job would be 40 hours per week, split between four, 10-hour shifts. However, due to the staffing shortage, French and another supervisor have had to pick up multiple 12-hour shifts, often putting in more than 60 hours per week.

“I'm now doing four 12s, an eight-hour, and a four-hour,” French said as she pet the cat. “And Signal, she's just 24/7.”

At last month's county commissioners meeting, Wright requested increased pay for both part- and full-time dispatchers. The commissioners approved the part-time pay bump, but wanted more data before approving the full-time salary increase.

“An increase in the rate of pay for them is most important to try to preserve who we have right now on our staff and encourage them to work,” Wright said at the meeting.

According to Wright, the department has been a common jumping off point for beginning dispatchers who then move on to smaller, higher paying communities.

“I lost three employees to Tilton, two to Meredith, they hire our people at a greater rate of pay and quality of life,” Wright said in an interview. “They don't have to work midnight shifts, they have a lot more flexibility because they dispatch for three officers at one given time where I have 30 people on the CAD [computer aided dispatch] screen.”

As of this writing, the pay range for a starting dispatcher is $18.49 to $25.60 an hour according to the county website.

“We don't even need to be full staffed to work 10 hours [shifts],” French said. “We just need enough people. Hopefully, that's only a couple months away.”

Hartford, who has worked at the county for four months, is already in the process of leaving.

“I'm going to the Tilton Police Department for dispatching,” Hartford said. “I'm expecting my first child, so overall it's really just that and the scheduling aspect. They don't do overnights like we do.”

The sheriff's dispatch covers calls from nine communities, and during the day has around 30 officers to manage. At night that number drops to 15. When officers aren't in the process of pulling someone over or responding to a call, dispatchers check in with each one of them every 20 minutes.

Fortunately for French, another full-timer is set to take Hartford's place once she exits, and Brown appears to be a promising candidate with a law enforcement background.

Before taking this job, Brown worked in the county jail as a corrections officer for around six years, before that, he worked dispatch in Disney World.

“I worked security in their com. center,” Brown said. “Let's just say we help preserve the magic. There are things that happen at Disney you'd never know about.”

In the early part of the shift as French and Hartford manned the consoles, Brown completed practice worksheets as part of his training.

“[It takes] seven weeks but it can be shorter depending how fast one progresses in their training, and can go longer if they need some remedial training,” Brown said. “I don't know where I fall on that spectrum just yet.”

“Yes you do!” French encouraged.

During training, dispatchers need to learn how to operate the extensive communications and software systems, operate radios and memorize codes.

“You have to know 55 of them [codes] but there's like 110 of them that could be used by the officers,” French said. “The reason they came up with those is so the people with scanners, so it's hard for them to follow along.”

From their consoles, dispatchers can track the location of officers, take calls, access records and contact various emergency services. They also communicate directly with officers in real time via radio.

The demanding hours faced by dispatchers, especially when understaffed, doesn't leave much room for a social life, as days off are a rare commodity.

“I try and not oversleep because I want to enjoy my day [off] not just spend it sleeping,” Hartford said. “I don't hang out with friends anymore. It's strictly family time when I can get it, because my schedule is not the same as my family's so on my days off I try to keep it family-oriented.”

“The people in this room become your friends. I don't hang out with friends either.” French said. “Good thing I live with my significant other. Outside of that, I don't know how often I'd get to see him.”

In addition to social isolation and awkward sleep schedules, dispatchers can face traumatizing situations on a daily or nightly basis.

“I've talked someone out of taking a shotgun away from their chest and just killing themselves. I think that was my first or second year I was here,” French said.

Domestic disturbance calls are some of the most common, and most uncomfortable calls to take.

“The physical domestics you get and can actually hear what's going on in the background, that's difficult,” French said.

“I hate calls with domestics with kids involved,” Hartford said.

Dispatchers are also the lifeline for officers when they're under threat, making for some very rattling calls.

“It's always very gut wrenching ... when you have an officer screaming for help on the radio. That's also very triggering. We've had a few of those,” French said. “Just those instant moments where they're panicky over the radio, your heart drops and you're like 'all right, we're doing this.' At the same, that action is one of your interests in pursuing a career in this.”

The variety and unpredictability of calls is both what makes the job traumatizing and attractive to those that don't want to have the same routine day in and day out.

“The job is the story, the calls are the chapters,” Brown said.

“It keeps you on your toes, interested,” French said.

“When you work as a dispatcher you know your job has purpose,” Hartford said. “I feel like I had jobs that serve no meaning.”

“People don't realize when someone sits in this room, they're making a difference without being in the headlines,” French said. “They're sending an officer home to their family. You sit here at any moment the world could fall apart and it's your job to make sure that officer gets home.”