During the winter
months, when the roads become
icy and or when major storms
come through the area, the
dispatchers are responsible for
contacting the road department
to go out and take care of these
situations. They also are the
dispatch point for the fire
official, health department,
domestic violence response team, and
buildings official when needed.
The Bridgewater
Communications Center
consists of four separate
work stations. Each radio
console consists of eighteen
separate channels to
communicate with police,
multiple fire departments,
rescue squads, the road
department, and one to
communicate with state
police and med-evac. The
Communications Center is
also equipped with several
radio scanners for the
various towns surrounding
Bridgewater.
The dispatchers
also have 4 computer screens to
work from. One of those screens
is for the 9-1-1 system, and the
others include systems called
NCIC (National Crime Information
Center), DMV (Division of Motor
Vehicles), CJIS (Criminal
Justice Information System),
NJLETS/NLETS (National and New
Jersey Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System) and
the CAD (Computer Aided
Dispatch), where all in house
information is stored.
All calls that the
dispatchers receive are
transmitted through the
police frequency to an
officer. It is the
dispatcher’s duty to
prioritize each call and
send whatever resources are
needed.
Dispatchers are
responsible for documenting all
of the calls that come through
the department. Some calls
require case numbers that can be
issued through the CAD system
that only dispatch assigns. Each
call that is put into the CAD
system should have information
that includes the type of call,
the caller’s name, address and
phone number, a brief
description of the call, and who
was assigned to the call. Every
call records times of when the
call was initiated, when the
proper personnel are dispatched,
when they arrive on scene and
when they clear the scene.
As you have just read,
dispatchers have many
responsibilities.
Dispatchers are considered
the first line of defense.
Click here for
more information on the
9-1-1 System.