- Whatcha watchin? Trading Spaces
- The baby? almost 13 weeks (Thursday!)
Well, the normal CO at our facility is dual trained. Both as a CO and dispatcher.
As a CO: you make checks every 1/2 hour to make sure all inmates are accounted for, make sure they're not misbehaving (which actually NEVER happens), and move inmates if it's visitation or if they have court, etc. Also, there is normally a trustee who doesn't have to stay in his/her cell and gets to make meals and wash cars, etc. If there is no trustee, you have to make and distribute meals, commissary (where inmates can buy crossword puzzles, soda, ramen noodles, stamps, extra envelopes, phone cards, etc). You also,as a CO book in all incoming arrestees. Lockdown at night, and I think that's it. Hmm, just the regular inmate stuff, I guess.
As a dispatcher: You sit in the control room all night (unless relieved by another officer) because the radio can't be left alone. You take emergency calls, transfer medicals and fires to the proper facilities, and dispatch officers (depending on location and county/city jurisdiction) to those calls, also determining at time of dispatch if additional units may me needed. You also are responsible for knowing the locations of any or all of your officers if they are on calls or traffic stops. You run the leads computer, where you locate warrants, run license plates/driver's license, get criminal histories. There's also another computer that has every address in the county, so you must be able to give directions to a call if needed. All the doors in the facility are run by a button panel in the control room, if an officer wants into the jail, dispatch pushes a button to temporarily unlock doors, so you have to run the doors (also including cell doors) and the intercoms through the facility. Umm, and handle the walk-ins, when people come to the jail to report a wreck, fire or other emergency, or just make a complaint about someone in general. And, I think that's about it. This job is pretty hectic, although CO's have it rough too, especially when an inmate or arrestee is being troublesome.
But like I said, because there are certain risks posed with being a CO...I'm stricly dispatch.
11 belly rub(s).