Full Notification

This week, April 10-16, is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Official acknowledgement of public safety dispatchers for police, fire, and ambulance units was approved by Congress in the early 1990’s.

The City of Walnut Creek Police Assistants (Dispatchers) handled over 39,000 calls in 2010 that came into our communications center.

The job of a Public Safety Dispatcher has evolved considerably over the last half-century. The days where an officer or clerk might have simply answered the phone, relayed calls over a console radio, and kept a paper log have given way to a highly technical, multi-tasking environment that requires dispatchers to undergo extensive training and develop a strong skill set.

Dispatchers are expected to handle whatever calls for help come in, whenever they come in. Be it a major emergency or a minor problem, the dispatchers serve the public while providing simultaneous information exchanges with field units and tracking everything using multiple computer systems. Any call into our police dispatch center can require research from a variety of databases to enhance first responder safety or help resolve a situation.

Our dispatchers work the exact same hours our police officers do; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Their job is demanding, stressful and extremely important. They are the lifeline for our citizens and our officers in the field. We could not protect our community nearly as well without them.

This week we honor the personnel that work in the Walnut Creek Police Department’s Communications Center and thank them for their hard work, dedication and professionalism.


Joel H. Bryden

Chief of Police

For further information please contact Lt. Mark Perlite at (925) 256-3568