Public Safety Dispatcher & Call-Taker

Responsibilities

The Napa Central Dispatch is the primary answer point for all 911 emergency calls for the City of Napa, City of American Canyon, Town of Yountville, and all unincorporated areas of Napa County. The center dispatches for the Napa Police Department, Napa County Sheriff's Department, the American Canyon Police Department, the Napa Fire Department, the American Canyon Fire Department and AMR Ambulance Service. We also are responsible for emergency medial dispatching for the entire County of Napa. The center is staffed by four Supervisors, 20 full-time Dispatchers, five Public Safety Dispatch Call Takers, and two part-time Dispatchers and processes approximately 115,000 calls per year.

The Dispatch Center operates in myriad of technical equipment, including a computer aided dispatch system, intelligent phone work stations and numerous computerized systems to access information regarding arrests, vehicle registration, drivers license information, etc. Public Safety Dispatchers work a 4/10 shift with staggered starting times. Our Public Safety Dispatchers are EMD trained and interested dispatchers are trained in Tactical and/or Fire Incident dispatching. Public Safety Call-Takers, under immediate supervision, receive emergency and non-emergency calls and forward that information for the dispatching of personnel and equipment for law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical service personnel utilizing a computer-aided dispatch system; they maintain records relative to the communications operation and they perform various other support duties as required. 

This class is the entry-level position and performs duties in a training capacity, progressing to greater independence in task performance with training and experience within a formal training program. Incumbents learn to receive requests for assistance; evaluate critical and type of response needed. Work is often performed under pressure. The Call Taker level is distinguished from the Public Safety Dispatcher(I) level by the extent of knowledge and the nature of the job responsibilities which are primarily limited to receiving and routing calls while also receiving basic training in dispatching duties.

Additional Information

For further information related to the Public Safety Dispatcher or the Public Safety Call-Taker position, including salary and job openings, view the Napa Job Opportunities page. Please reference Police Department Recruitment and Selection Standards (PDF) for information related to all job classifications.