National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week
April 8-14, 2018
The City of Kannapolis Police and Fire Departments want to take the opportunity to honor and recognize the dedicated telecommunicators who handle thousands of emergencies each year within the City of Kannapolis and surrounding areas and express our deep appreciation for their efforts. These dedicated individuals dispatch Kannapolis police officers, fire suppression units, medical units, and coordinate with surrounding agencies for other law enforcement, fire services and emergency medical services.
“During the past year our telecommunicators have demonstrated their professionalism during many critical incidents,” said Police Chief Woody Chavis. “They continue to receive recognitions and awards for their excellent and critical performance. They are true specialists and the lifeline for our citizens, our officers, our firefighters, and our EMS personnel. We cannot recognize and honor them enough for the fantastic job they do each and every day.”
In 2017, the city’s telecommunicators maintained an outstanding record answering 98% of the 911 emergency calls within an average of four seconds or less. They dispatched 64,313 calls for service and answered 14,787 911 calls and 80,802 non-emergency calls for a total of 95,589 telephone calls. Telecommunicators are also responsible for entering all items with identifiable markings, wanted persons, and missing persons into the National Crime Information Center’s database.
Telecommunicators are trained to respond to a wide variety of emergencies that may arise each day. They must be able to retrieve information from callers, while reassuring the caller and sending emergency services units to assist them, dispatching units over the radio, and receiving computer messages often during periods of extreme stress and heavy call volume. In their role of communicating with police and fire emergency services they are often engaged with both emergency services at the same time for the same incident.
For over 25 years, public safety agencies nationwide have recognized the pivotal role played by telecommunications personnel who utilize telephones, radios, computers, and technical skills to provide support to Law Enforcement, Fire Service, and Emergency Medical Services during National Telecommunicator Week in April.
The following is a list of our city’s dedicated telecommunicators:
Heather Clay Shift Supervisor 11 years
Johnny Caudle Shift Supervisor 14 years
Heather Wagner Shift Supervisor 4 years
Megan Baker Shift Supervisor 2 years
Susan Martin Telecommunicator 15 years
Hollie Morton Telecommunicator 7 years
Candice Wilhelm Telecommunicator 6 years
Shari Whiting Telecommunicator 4 years
Jennifer Frieze Telecommunicator 2 years
Tanesha Lockett Telecommunicator 2 years
Katherine Pohlman Telecommunicator 2 years
Ashley Bare Telecommunicator 1 year
Eric Albright Telecommunicator 1 year
Jaycie Holland Telecommunicator 1 year
Kelly Russ Telecommunicator 1 year