# BPD Disptch & Call Takers



## dotland14 (Feb 17, 2016)

Looking to learn more about BPD hiring call takers and dispatchers. I have all the experience and residency requirements, just wonder what their shift schedules, pay, etc. is like. Thanks for any help you all have.


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## DNorth (Jun 6, 2008)

The title grabbed my attention...
1) "Call taker"-- is that some kind of new, PC, nicey-nice-touchy-feely customer service call center job? WTF is this world coming to! May as well work at a nice, comfortable mail order company office so you can sit at your phone and sip your latte and gossip between calls.

2) Perhaps you should learn to spell "dispatch" before you apply to be a dispatcher.

I started my LE career as a dispatcher. Guess what? We took phone calls, radio calls, ran NCIC, entered things in CAD, read off fire alarm box codes, etc. In a busy suburban town, we had no time for being gentle and sweet little "call takers", it was important to get messages to the field ASAP, and if Joe Citizen wasn't happy, he could arrange for a call back from a supervisor at the agency's convenience.

If you think dispatching is just answering phones and using the radios at your leisure, you've got another thing coming. A phone call is just the start of a large incident in most cases. If you want to just take phone calls, I bet Amazon needs nice folks like you.


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## USAF3424 (Mar 18, 2008)

woodyd said:


> BPD has separate dispatchers and call takers, and those are indeed the terms they use. Call takers answer the 911 and business lines, but do not operate the radio; they relay the information to dispatchers. Boston Police, Fire and EMS each have their own dispatchers, Police and EMS dispatch are both at Shroeder Plaza, Fire dispatch is on the Fenway. They also have Police Lieutenants assigned to dispatch, which is known as the Operations Division, to make immediate decisions when needed. Five radio channels covering eleven districts, plus a dispatcher assigned to run NCIC/CJIS inquiries, coordinating responses to multiple priority calls at the same time, OT calls, EDT activations, etc.


Plenty of Sergeants and even a few police officers still assigned up there. The work schedule is 5x2 and I believe the pay is decent. They get suspended all the time for sick time abuse so theres probably a good amount of overtime.


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## Rogergoodwin (Feb 15, 2016)

DNorth said:


> The title grabbed my attention...
> 1) "Call taker"-- is that some kind of new, PC, nicey-nice-touchy-feely customer service call center job? WTF is this world coming to! May as well work at a nice, comfortable mail order company office so you can sit at your phone and sip your latte and gossip between calls.
> 
> 2) Perhaps you should learn to spell "dispatch" before you apply to be a dispatcher.
> ...


Lol I don't know why the term "call taker" is so upsetting, or how it implies "sweet and gentle". A dispatcher by any other name...


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

In listening to the radio, there often seems to be some conflict between call takers and dispatchers (dispatchers get testy at times) but without the call takers, the dispatchers would be answering the phones as well. That can be a headache in a small department now and then, picture Boston! 
Both are vital jobs that often don't get the recognition they deserve. People can and do make mistakes, but overall, seems to be a good working system.


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## JD02124 (Sep 20, 2014)

Kilvinsky said:


> In listening to the radio, there often seems to be some conflict between call takers and dispatchers (dispatchers get testy at times) but without the call takers, the dispatchers would be answering the phones as well. That can be a headache in a small department now and then, picture Boston!
> Both are vital jobs that often don't get the recognition they deserve. People can and do make mistakes, but overall, seems to be a good working system.


Debatable&#8230; I've given head to toe details of subjects only to hear it go back over the radio as no description given lol. Oh well no ones perfect.


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

My department has 911 operators and dispatchers also. The 911 operator determines if it's an emergency or not. If it's not, they transfer the call to the non-emergency operator.

If it's an emergency related call, the 911 operator will "jump" on the appropriate frequency, put out the call, make sure someone picks it up, and "jumps" off the frequency... Unless of course it's a call of significance with a suspect still at scene. The operator will stay on the line and update the responding officers as needed.

A non-emergency operator will take the call, plug the information into the system, and send it out via the MDC. Most non-emergency calls don't get voiced on the radio.

We have excellent 911 operators and dispatchers. It's a thankless, stressful job that goes unnoticed by most people.
Thank you to MTC, Rodney, and all of our dispatchers on this site!


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## control (Jan 6, 2015)

Like said above Boston PD, EMS, and Fire are all separate operations. 

Boston EMS is dispatched from Boston PD HQ, but does not share dispatchers. Everyone in there is an EMT/Medic with BEMS. (Side note they're hiring EMT's right now.)
Boston Fire is a Civil Service exam that's offered every 4 years. The last list was certified in February of 2015 so there won't be another test until fall of 2018. It's a great gig, $100,000 your first year with overtime, fire fighter's schedule, opportunities for promotion, etc. The pay is the same as fire fighters and the supervisors follow the officers salaries.
Boston PD is all civilian and divided into dispatchers and call takers. I'm not sure if they cross train and allow you to work both sides or if your one and done. But I know I've seen separate job postings for both. Not many places to move up to, most of the admin staff is sworn.

All of the contracts and pay scales are on the City of Boston website. They will lay out all of the benefits, pay, vacation, etc. Read them, read them again, and if you get the job memorize them. Boston also is big with open data so the employee salaries are posted online. You can take a look and figure out how much a starting person makes after benefits and overtime pretty easily with a little footwork. The residency requirement is a pain, and absolutely limits their candidate pool. I wouldn't be surprised to see if reduced/removed in the near future.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

mtc said:


> Don't.....Even....Get.....Me....Started !!


You have mentioned a few of the 'issues' you've faced. I fully understand.


JD02124 said:


> Debatable&#8230; I've given head to toe details of subjects only to hear it go back over the radio as no description given lol. Oh well no ones perfect.


That's happened to my department on a number of occasions as well. The locals will show up and say, "So, what have you got?" and we'll have to give them all the information they SHOULD have gotten before arriving, or correct some. We've also been sitting waiting for a cruiser and suddenly hear them dispatched to an entirely different location. Which means we either TRY AGAIN, or just send someone to meet them at the OTHER location. It's irritating.


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

Kilvinsky said:


> You have mentioned a few of the 'issues' you've faced. I fully understand.
> 
> That's happened to my department on a number of occasions as well. The locals will show up and say, "So, what have you got?" and we'll have to give them all the information they SHOULD have gotten before arriving, or correct some. We've also been sitting waiting for a cruiser and suddenly hear them dispatched to an entirely different location. Which means we either TRY AGAIN, or just send someone to meet them at the OTHER location. It's irritating.


This is when a supervisor needs to get involved to "ensure" it doesn't happen in the future, otherwise the same mistakes happen over and over and that's just not acceptable, especially in 2016. What if it's a call of significance.. say an active shooter perhaps. They better get that information out correctly or lives could be lost unnecessarily, including ours.


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