July 4, 2006

By MARY AMES/Frontiersman

WASILLA - On the second floor of the Wasilla Police Department headquarters, the people behind the new technology of Mat-Com dispatch have more work than ever. “But our lives are easier,”

said Gina Wheeler, dispatch manager.

With the installation of work stations that would do a United Federation of Planets starship proud, dispatchers can

pull together information in

minutes.

The four screens each dispatcher monitors at a work station include a monitor for network and Internet connections, a statewide Alaska land-mobile radio console, and a computer-aided dispatch work station. If needed, a dispatcher also can pull up a street map or a satellite image of an area.

Once a call is entered into the computer, the dispatcher can look at the map and monitor the evolution of an event.

“For example, a rolling (domestic violence), or a burglary in progress,” Wheeler said, “where the situation is changing or many people are calling in, adding a different perspective.”

One function of the dispatch center is to monitor officers' locations for the safety of troopers in the Palmer detachment, the Wasilla police and Houston police.

“An officer can ask for a checkup at certain times,” Wheeler said. “For all traffic stops, we check on an officer every five minutes.”

Each call that comes into Mat-Com Dispatch goes first to a call-taker who fills in as much information as necessary before handing it off to a dispatcher. Call-takers assist the dispatch function, and sometimes when things are hopping, dispatchers take initial calls. But the jobs are different, Wheeler said.

Transition from the old paper-based system to the new way of doing things was hard, Wheeler said.

“Experienced dispatchers who were very good at what they did were turned upside down,” she said.

The change meant workers had to be able to listen to two or three things at once and be really comfortable with computers. They had to learn two pages of new commands, and then modify them to make them work better for Mat-Com's needs. Every other week, the user groups get together and give dispatchers feedback on how things are working.

“We can look at data and track what was said and what we did with a caller,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes people call and are reassured that we have them in the system.”

The data collected by Mat-Com also allows Wheeler to verify trends.

Some people just like to call, and the new system makes it easy to see that one individual made 24 calls in two days, where before dispatchers may only have had a hunch that person was making a lot of calls.

“It allows us to see patterns, see if a situation is escalating,” Wheeler said.

Once data is entered into the system, pertinent information is transmitted to the automated reporting system, and assists the officers in writing their reports through the records management system. Most data only needs to be entered once, allowing the officers more time to be on patrol.

With the new statewide radio system, each officer and vehicle is identified at the dispatch console when they key up their microphone, so if an officer is unable to talk for any reason, they still can be identified at the console. Also, if a radio is misplaced or stolen, the state programmers can disable it so it no longer works on the system.

Because dispatchers work 10-hour shifts at a stressful job, their work stations are designed for comfort and can be adjusted so each person can work either sitting or standing. That focus on ergonomics reduced the number of worker compensation claims significantly, Wheeler said.

“I'm very happy with the way things turned out,” she said. “I'm proud of them. They make me look good.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.