A day in the life of a Prince George 9-1-1 Police Dispatcher: “Help is a call away”

Prince George

2025-04-14 11:14 PDT

Their first day shift starts at 7:00 a.m. as they set up their desk for the day, preparing to answer 9-1-1 calls coming in from the public and then dispatching that information to on-duty police officers. Most dispatchers in what’s known as North District, an area that spans from 100 Mile House to the B.C./Yukon border and from the Queen Charlotte Islands to the B.C./Alberta border, work a four-on, four-off shift rotation. This means they work for two 12-hour day shifts and then two 12-hour night shifts.

The 9-1-1 dispatch centre in Prince George is a busy place with many things going on at once. Every dispatcher sits at a large sit-stand desk with the equivalent to five or six computer monitors facing them. Each monitor shows a different type of information about the current calls coming in and the status of the police officers in the dispatch area they are covering that day.

We don’t typically dispatch for the same area each day, we rotate around, says Brett, a 9-1-1 police dispatcher. This is so it’s fair to everyone. Some places are busier than others and this way everyone builds up their experience with different types of calls coming in from the public, or different situations that come up, and no one starts to get burnt out.

Brett has been a 9-1-1 police dispatcher for six years, recently transferring to Prince George from BCRCMP Headquarters in Surrey. In Prince George, there is always something going on, he says. It starts and never really stops. What stands out to him about being a police dispatcher, though, is that once the day is done, it’s done. There is not often any residual take-home after their shifts are over.

If our 9-1-1 dispatchers experience a high-risk call, especially if there has been some violence or it was very stressful, we always ensure they go through a critical incident debrief, states Steve Cox, the North District Operational Communications Centre manager. We have a fantastic Employee Assistance Program that can help our 9-1-1 police dispatchers manage the stress and emotions of those calls, so they don’t feel like they have to process that all on their own.

When asked why they became 9-1-1 police dispatchers, many of them say it was to help people. 9-1-1 police dispatchers are the first voices that someone in distress hears when a crime is occurring and they are there to provide information and a sense of calm while police officers are responding to the call. When asked what type of person makes a good dispatcher Jenna, a 9-1-1 police dispatcher for sixteen years, says: Someone that is detail oriented, positive and resilient.

This week marks National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, and from all of us at the Prince George RCMP Detachment, we say Thank You! to the dedicated and hard working 9-1-1 Police Dispatchers in Prince George and across Canada.

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Email: princegeorge_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Website: princegeorge.rcmp-grc.gc.ca

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