Dispatcher

Dispatcher

The incumbent is responsible to provide essential communications and support functions for police, fire, ambulance, and animal control personnel. They must interact with the general public and other governmental agencies in order to gather and disseminate accurate information to public safety personnel. The Dispatcher is the primary point of contact between the citizens and visitors of Springdale and the police and fire departments. The incumbent is considered essential personnel and is required to work their scheduled shift, not limited to weekends and holidays, to include mandatory on-call hours. Safety/Security Sensitive Designation: This position is classified as safety/security sensitive under the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment and is therefore subject to random drug and alcohol testing.

Job duties include providing good customer service to both internal and external customers; answering administrative, non-emergency, and E911 phone calls and determining the priority and appropriate response for these calls; operating a communications console and related equipment to dispatch necessary police, fire, EMS, animal control personnel and after hour City on-call staff, in response to requests for assistance in emergency situations in accordance with established departmental procedures and policies. Monitor and update personnel activity statuses using a complex computer aided dispatch (CAD) program.

Additional duties include dispatching and monitoring all radio traffic generated by police and fire personnel related to calls for service and self-initiated activity; providing timely information to appropriate public safety personnel regarding relevant history of locations and/or persons, to include weapons, narcotics, violence, other safety hazards, locating hydrant information, weather information, paging notifications, etc.; answering all E911 calls for the City of Springdale; answering calls from other agencies, departments, and the public; transferring calls as needed to appropriate personnel; answering inquiries related to a variety of topics, such as special events, weather, other agencies, administrative lines, address locations, etc.; performing a variety of routine clerical, administrative, and technical duties; utilizing the Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) and National Crime Information Center (NCIC) databases to assist law enforcement personnel in their duties; maintaining written and electronic logs of traffic light outages, street closures, and other information as requested which may affect public safety responses to calls for service; corresponding with utility companies, wreckers, coroner's offices, business representatives, and other various agencies as requested and needed by public safety personnel or the general public; maintaining all updated addressing, contact information; entering court documents such as warrants, no contact orders, etc. as needed; maintaining internal systems used for communication between different departments; responsible for maintaining required Continuing Dispatch Education (CDE) hours, call processing times, and recertifications; and performing other duties as required or assigned.

Minimum qualifications include a high school diploma plus special training and additional college courses and 2 years of related experience and/or training. Must be able to obtain ACIC Level I & II Certification, Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Certification, CPR Certification, Public Safety 40-hour Basic Telecommunicator Certification, Emergency Fire Dispatch (EFD) Certification, NIMS -FEMA 100,200, and 700, NCMEC (National Missing and Exploited Children) training, Rave Mobile Safety Training, ACTIVE911 Training; Criminal Justice Information Systems Certification (CJIS), NAMUS. Preferred: Certified Training Officer (CTO) Certification. The incumbent must be proficient in the use of personal computer, Microsoft Office Suite, HTE AS400, Tyler Enterprise CAD, RMS and mapping systems, P25 digital 800 MHz trunked communications radio system, ACIC/NCIC, fax machine, email, TTY, Vesta 911, cell phone, Locution, Springdale Message Board, PaperVision, Pro QA system, language line services, multi-line phone system, headsets, recorder, alarm systems, various camera systems, time and attendance software, and standard office equipment. The incumbent must have the ability to utilize both internal and external resources to obtain information and data necessary to carry out routine assignments and special projects. Must have ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with management and staff. Requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges, a willingness to lead, take charge and offer opinions and direction. Requires the incumbent to establish and maintain personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. Requires developing one's own way of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. The job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services including customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. The job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful. The job also requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. The job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone and being personally connected with others on the job and regular contact within the department and with other departments as needed. Must have knowledge of electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software. Must have knowledge of media production and alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral and visual media. Must have knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal and human life. Must have the ability to learn various processes and procedures, such as handling calls from citizens who may be under the influence, suicidal, mentally impaired, irate, etc. in a professional manner. Ability to handle multiple tasks and yield multiple calls virtually at the same time. Must be able to withstand a complete background investigation, polygraph examination, and drug screening(s).

Supplemental information includes the need to pass FBI criminal background fingerprint check and have the ability to comply with state and federal requirements for criminal justice information security standards and obtain necessary certifications.