2010 Annual Report - Post Falls Police

P O S T F A L L S P O L I C E D E P A R T M E N TPriorities of theCommunications CenterEach of our Emergency Communication Officers (ECOs) takes great pride inthe service they provide to the Police Department and the communities theyserve. They embrace their duties with confidence and professionalism. Thoseduties include:• To insure the safety of the public, police, fire, and EMS personnel by makingdiligence, speed, accuracy, and professionalism a priority when gatheringinformation and dispatching calls.• To greet those who call us for assistance with courtesy and compassion,keeping in mind the caller is often under stress and completely unaware ofwhat information we need from them, why we need it, and how busy wemay be when they call.• To never forget that we represent the public, the City of Post Falls and City ofRathdrum, and the opinions formed of the City’s entire emergency servicemay hinge on how they are treated by our ECO.• To receive and relay information in the shortest, most accurate form.The Communications Center plays an important role in the Police Department’sability to serve the community. Emergency Communications Officers (ECOs)are a vital link between citizens and resources. The duties of an ECO are broad.In addition to performing a variety of record keeping and administrative tasks,ECOs perform both call taking and dispatching duties. They answer citizen’semergency and non-emergency calls for service and dispatch Police Officersfor Post Falls and the Rathdrum. Their performance directly contributes to thesafety and well-being of officers, citizens, and visitors of our community.The job of the ECO can be very stressful. On many occasions, a call is receivedfrom someone in a crisis situation in need of police, fire or EMS assistance.The ECO must be able to calm the caller, so the necessary information can beobtained, then effectively relay the information to responding police officers,units and agencies.During 2010, the Communications/Records Division handled approximately138,127 phone calls, including 9,395 Emergency 911 calls and 30,467 calls forservice for the Cities of Post Falls and Rathdrum.2 0