Honoring Dispatchers, during Public Safety Telecommunicators Week
By Paul Hall on Thursday, April 15th, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – La Grande Police Department is celebrating Public Safety Telecommunicators this week. In 1991, through a formal proclamation by Congress, National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week was established to highlight the critical, life-saving work the dispatchers do in every community.
According to Chief Gary Bell, the LGPD dispatch center that serves La Grande and Union County is staffed 24/7/365. The dispatcher’s responsibility is to identify the nature of the calls as quickly as possible and to assist the caller in solving a problem. Dispatchers are the critical link between the citizen and the first responder, as they are responsible for obtaining information from the caller and transferring that information to a Police Officer, firefighter, or EMS personnel.
Bell said the extraordinary service that dispatchers provide to the citizens of La Grande and Union County is absolutely incredible. Bell went on and said truthfully, they are the first of the first responders and each of them are unsung heroes within the public safety profession.
The service that each of the dispatchers provides to the City of La Grande and Union County demonstrates their professional ability, devotion to duty, and is unquestionably in keeping with the highest traditions of the La Grande Police Department.
“It is with great honor and satisfaction that I formally thank each of them for their service as Telecommunicators for the La Grande Police Department”, stated Chief Bell.
