Communications Unit

 

Within this cryptic world of maps, beeps, rings, and voices lay the first responders of the Raytown Police Department. These dedicated personnel staff the radios and telephones 24 hours a day, 365 days a year providing citizens the conduit to request assistance from Raytown Emergency Services. Communications Officers are the first interaction most citizens have with the Emergency Services of Raytown.

 

These eight people are tasked with monitoring 4 wireline 9-1-1 telephone lines, 3 wireless 9-1-1 telephone lines, and 3 non-emergency administrative telephone lines. They also must monitor 10 radio talk groups for Police, Emergency Medical Service, Public Works, Emergency Management and Special Operations. They deal with the everyday requests from citizens to speak to personnel, provide telephone numbers for city offices and find information that is needed by the officers.

 

At a moment’s notice, they could be dealing with a life threaten illness, a multi-car accident on the highway or an incident involving a dangerous subject. They have to gather the necessary information, contact the proper responders and make an entry of all this into our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) program. Multitasking is very important as each Communications Officer must be able to dispatch on the radio while typing information they are gathering from the telephone into the CAD. They must ask the correct questions to ensure the safety of the responders as well as the caller. They are not only tasked with protecting Raytown, they receive calls from other cities that they must transfer to the proper agency. They must coordinate with other dispatch centers with in the metro area when another entity requests assistance. Each of these people are required to work weekends, holidays and rotating shifts to ensure the proper coverage is provided for the field units.

 

In short they are the lifeline for the field units, their contact with help and assistance. The Communications Unit is vital for maintaining the safety of each and every Police Officer and Paramedic in the City of Raytown. 

 

To contact Raytown Dispatch in a non-emergency, please call 816-737-6020. Always call 911 in an emergency!