Communications Division
TELECOMMUNICATOR DUTIES AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
The Haines Borough Police Department dispatch center provides dispatch services to the Haines Borough Police Department, Haines Volunteer Fire Department, Klehini Valley Fire Department, Alaska State Troopers and State Parks. It is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by a team of professionally trained telecommunicators.
The communications division is staffed by five certified Public Safety Telecommunicators, including our Dispatch Supervisor. Dispatchers receive calls for medical care, traffic accidents, domestic disturbances, reports of crime, weather reports, road condition updates, complaints about wildlife and domestic animals, and a multitude of other issues related to public safety. The dispatcher listens carefully to each caller, asks questions and determines the appropriate response to the situation, then dispatches help to the scene. Dispatchers also provide security and protection for our police officers as they perform their duties, providing information and assisting in the management of reports and records.
In addition to their dispatch duties, our dispatchers also serve as correctional officers in the Haines Rural Jail Facility. Dispatchers receive training in prisoner handling, booking, releasing and administration of care to inmates in the jail. The department provides training thorough a correspondence program and dispatchers attend a three week Municipal Correctional Officer Academy in Palmer, Alaska.
Our department is proud to announce the arrival of a new, E-911 dispatch center. This project is coordinated with a large scale radio system upgrade and computer aided dispatching software that helps our staff direct resources where they are needed quickly and efficiently.
ABOUT OUR TELECOMMUNICATORS
Dispatcher Supervisor Jane Clark has served in the department for thirteen years and is the department's terminal security officer for the Alaska Public Safety Information Network (APSIN). Jane's experience and training helps keep the flow of information up to standards and her lifelong knowledge of the community gives her a special knowledge that helps in her response to calls.
Dispatcher Linda Waldo has been a Haines resident for 24 years, bringing to our department, a wealth of local knowledge. Linda has been with our department for 7 years now. Linda has graduated from the Alaska Department of Corrections Municipal Correctional Officer Academy, has received her Public Safety Telecommunicator and Emergency Medical Dispatch Certification with APCO International.
