Telecommunicator

Description

Employees in this class receive incoming routine and emergency (E-911) police calls; dispatch proper personnel for assistance; and maintain contact with police units during patrol. Work involves assisting the public with directions and general information. Work also involves frequent public contact, which requires tact, firmness, and decisiveness in obtaining necessary information from people who are under extreme stress. Work is performed in accordance with departmental policy and State and federal law, supplemented with specific directions from sworn personnel. Work is often performed under stressful emergency conditions. The employees are subject to inside environmental conditions. Work is evaluated through observation, discussion, and review of reports by the Police management ranks and through feedback from the public and officers in the field.

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

• Receives routine and emergency (E-911) telephone calls and personal requests for assistance concerning crimes, fires, public utilities, or general information concerning addresses and nature of problems; monitors security cameras throughout the department; dispatches Police staff to incidents; coordinates with utilities communications staff as needed.
• Operates equipment to maintain contact with police personnel and other law enforcement units; dispatches officers to answer requests for assistance; receives and transmits information and messages.
• Operates Division of Criminal Information (DCI) terminal to send and receive messages regarding criminal histories, vehicle identification, NCIC hot files, missing persons, license plate records, driver histories, and query system for pawn shop transactions, and related work.
• Maintains in-house communications logs and reports including the nature of calls, actions taken and the times involved; and generates reports for recovered or stolen property, missing persons, and residence checks; maintains various schedules and files; enters incident reports, arrest reports, and supplements into the database; enters citations, warrants and warning tickets into database.
• Serves as receptionist for the department responsible for greeting and providing customer service to visitors; provides wreck and incident reports to victims; provides reports for local media.
• Tracks and maintains warrants, citations, and other legal documents.
• Advises Police Officers of various information as instructed.
• Tracks activities and location of officers for safety backup.
• Serves as reception for the Police Department; assists the public with questions; takes messages; provides wreck reports when needed.
• Notarizes various police department documents.
• Dispatches utilities staff for utility connections, trouble shooting and repairs.
• Provides information to the public in person and over the telephone concerning a variety of Village services.
• Performs related duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Considerable knowledge of the operation of a police communications system and related Federal Communications Commission regulations.
• Considerable knowledge of the geographic layout of the Village, and the locations of streets, important buildings, and other landmarks.
• Knowledge of the functions, practices and procedures of the Police and Fire Departments.
• Knowledge of the application of information technology to the work.
• Skill in collaborative conflict resolution and customer contact.
• Ability to accurately receive and transmit radio communications.
• Ability to assess people and situations, to apply sound judgment, to remain calm under stressful and emergency conditions and to elicit sufficient and essential information for dispatching and assisting field personnel.
• Ability to multi-task and to set and follow effective priorities.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with the public, department staff, and other Village employees.
• Ability to type and enter data accurately and at a desirable speed.
• Ability to speak clearly and distinctly.
• Ability to follow oral and written instructions.
• Ability to maintain confidential information.
• Ability to take and properly record and receipt payments.

• Must be able to physically perform the basic life operational functions of reaching, walking, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, talking, hearing, and perform repetitive motions.
• Must be able to perform sedentary work exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally.
• Must possess the visual acuity to perform extensive reading and computer terminal work.

Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

Graduation from high school and some related communications, dispatching or reception work experience preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Special Requirements:
Possession of a valid driver’s license. Possession of NC Notary in the timeframe required by the Department. Certification or ability to obtain certification by the State of North Carolina as a DCI operator within three months of employment.