The calls for service and assistance we receive in Presque Isle can be hard to imagine. This year the Presque Isle Public Safety dispatchers will likely receive and handle in excess of fifteen thousand calls...everything from armed robberies and domestic violence to burning buildings, drownings, and serious auto accidents with injuries. This year we have also taken on the additional responsibility of handling some of the dispatching associated with certain ambulance related services in Presque Isle, also we dispatch for the Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill Fire Department. You would not believe the volume of some of the goofy calls we used to get for general requests for information and not at all related to public safety. They go a little like this...yes maam I live in Rumford and were thinking about moving to Presque Isle, can you tell me if there are any good apartments for rent? or my 10 year old refuses to get out of bed and get dressed for school, could you send an officer? or “Can you tell me the phone number for Joe Bornstein?” All of these things are important to the callers Im sure, but they are examples of calls that are better handled by someone other than police and fire...perhaps 1. a real estate agent, 2. a swift kick in the rear end, and 3. maybe checking the phone book, using Google on your smart phone, or DVR his commercials would’ve been better options than police & fire in these instances. We are here to serve the citizens in our community but public safety can be compromised when our dispatch personnel are contending with non public safety related issues. Your support has been obvious and we appreciate the reduction in these sorts of calls over the past few years! p.s. we do not advocate child abuse – the “swift kick” comment was only meant as a metaphor for the strengthening of parenting skills. - the Chief made me clarify this! - Dispatcher Pam Sutherland
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 20:28:54 +0000
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