W
hen you call 911 in the City of Winter Garden, the
call comes into the Winter Garden Police
Department where it is routed to a
Tele-communicator. The unseen hero on the other end of the
line is the first resource of every emergency call. They are the
person you reach out to in the worst moments of your life and
their calm, authoritative voice helps bring sanity into an often
out of control situation.
W
GPD Telecommunicators go through special
training to be that first resource on the other end
of the line. Prerequisites to being hired with the
Telecommunications Department include having your high
school diploma, no criminal background history, pass a 100
word spelling test, and the ability to type 40 words per minute.
Once hired, they receive 12 weeks of on-the-job training and
must complete a 260-hour, public safety telecommunicator
certification course.
W
hen our dispatchers receive your call, they either
dispatch a law enforcement officer or route it to
a fire or medical dispatcher. They remain on the
line when transferring to another agency to monitor for the
possible need of police assistance. The goal is to get someone
to the call as quickly as possible to assess the scene. Calls are
prioritized by danger to life, property loss, or civil nature. If
we are busy with an emergency, we will call the citizens back
within 15 minutes and explain we are being delayed.
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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JULY 2014