We knew something was missing.

Anonymous said...

How does a blog author go about asking CPDDispatch if they are interested in posting a link to a blog?

We now have our own E-mail address (isn't technology grand?).

CPDDispatchBlog@yahoo.com

And that would be how one would go about asking us any questions.

Lighten up some!

Bit of bickering lately. Maybe it's time for a very temporary change in format, time to get more people out of the lurking shadows (we know you're out there).

Okay, tables are open. Share some of the funniest - funniest - things you've had happen on the radio, or some of the funniest calls you had. Not worst, not most angering (we may open the tables for that at a later date). Funniest. Everyone needs a laugh, PCOs are no different.

Share away, keep it clean (as opposed to mean, we mean). And as usual, no names or full beat numbers.

They done done it again.

Another major event that's going to affect the Ops Floor, that Ops Floor workers have received no notification of.

Seems there's going to be a drill downtown (Zone 4, Citywides 1/5/6, have fun). An evacuation drill. We believe it's tentatively scheduled for 07Sep06, but then, how the hell would we know for sure.

Quoth Senator Dick Durbin:

"You know what happens to our kids when they go to school? They have fire drills. They tell kids what you have to do to get out of the building safely — and we’re glad they do this."

Quoth your favourite blogger:

You know what happens to us when we go to work? They don't have a damned thing for us. They don't tell us what to do to get out of the building safely, or what's even going to happen that's going to affect the building/Operations - and we hate that they do this.

Trotter had information that he "told a news conference at the city's 911 emergency center." The 911 emergency center whose own workers knew, as a whole, of no such conference. And guess who's going to be faulted in no uncertain terms and seen as totally incompetent if the slightest bit of detail about the situation is unknown to the dispatcher(s).

At least we're not alone. According to SecondCityCop, "Certain elements of the Department have already stated that the lowly beat guys and gals don't have to be made aware of the plans."

The Chicago Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. So different, yet so much alike.

Are the Power watches coming back?

We hear rumor that they are, rumor that they aren't. Would the return of the Power watches eliminate some of the mandatory overtime that OEMC never experienced until said watches were eliminated by "The M?" Or will they never return while the current administration is in power because it would be an indirect admission of a mistake?

And if they do return, will there be a contractual provision for medical days? It's not exactly fair to work 10-hour days and still only earn 8 hours of medical time per month and still "call it 'a day.'"

What have you done for us lately?

Jerry Rankin, we're talking to you.

With your trips down south to check on your family's property, the inability to reach you by phone or receive a return phone call when we leave you a voicemail, and the ratification of our contract almost a year ago, we haven't heard much from you. We haven't heard much of you, either.

Why have so many grievances been sitting at Step 3 for 2 years or better? Why are so many of the grievances being "denied" by the same person who signs her name as the complainant in our CIs? What's being done about these things, huh? Huh? Huh? Have we been pushed to the backburner because we got a bone (Read: Contract with back pay) tossed to us and we don't generate as much money for the union as, say, Ameritech/SBC/AT&T/Whatever they call themselves now?

We'd like answers. The whole Ops Floor would like answers.

New Watch Managers

Widespread rumor is that four floor supervisors will be promoted to Watch Manager, possibly as soon as September. We know of 6 supervisors who have interviewed and not many more than six, who actively work the Ops Floor, are "veterans."

Based on past practice, we move to say that at least half of the promotions will go to supervisors who are not active on the Ops Floor. Are the promotions going to be based on reputation for efficiency and competence? Political favor? Cronyism? Or will they be based solely on the qualifications/resume review and interview process, which we know for Chicago can be nothing more than a wink and a handshake?

In addition to suspensions,

It has come to our attention that a few of our coworkers have numbered days ahead of them. Some of them may be shown the door by the police working security because of medical abuse/sick-no-pay status. Others may be shown the door because of repeated sustained complaints of rudeness to citizens.

Either way, these forced exits are rumored to take place before 2007. We'll update you "as soon as resources permit."

Light Posting

Much like the SCC blog over the weekend, we've been light on posting. We simply don't have a taste for gossip. We don't have our noses in much of the gossip that exists. We're aware of some, but unlike the vast majority of the Ops Floor, things that are told to us in confidence stay in confidence.

We'll continue to mull through the few (and we do mean few) comments that people leave to see what topics may be pertinent enough to post about. But the posts will continue to deal with issues that affect our job functions, not who's sleeping with what cop or any other b.s. that is people's personal business. We really don't care about it.

Medical abuse.

You all know the story.

I'm taking a medical day because I can't risk getting my time due denied. My time due will likely be denied because we don't have enough employees and people hit the medical and make us even shorter. They hit the medical because they don't want to risk getting their time due denied. So I'm taking a medical day because I can't risk getting my time due denied, either. My time due would likely be...

See the vicious cycle? CPD doesn't have this problem because 1. They have a (**hated**) Medical Section to report to, and 2. Time due is very liberally given. We could start a collection of our "denied" pink slips because there's an overabundance of them. They'd take up more space than suspension notices.

So what's going to happen now that people may have to start bringing in doctor's notes whenever they hit the medical? Is it going to make people go on medical less? Is it going to have any more of an effect than management's previous attempts in all of these years to cut down on medical abuse?

We doubt it.

Gnats Gnats Gnats

PCOs are slapping themselves in the heads and almost breaking monitors trying to protect themselves from the gnat infestation. It's no longer just an Ops Floor problem, they're now in other areas of the building, including the Mezzanine/Roll Call room. But we still haven't heard anything about what's going to be done to get rid of them.

Maybe when Administrative offices on the 2nd and 4th floors start having gnat problems, then someone will do something about it.

Okay, maybe we were wrong.

Looks like SecondCityCop checks us out as much as we vice the versa. A post over there takes our GPS thought a step further. Seems there's someone who purports to have investigated a CR number in which the accused POs' exact location at a given time was pinpointed, courtesy of alleged GPS tracking through their PDT.

The times, they are a-changin'. For the worse. Damned technology.

The public speaks, and it reminds us

Of topics that we want to address. Anonymous, at 01:02PM, adds:

"The problem is not 'not enough police'. The problem is too many nanny-state call types..."

We agree with the latter. We know for a fact that manpower on the district "watch" level is severely lacking, but for the life of us, we can't figure out why we are mandated to send the police on some of the calls we receive.

Well-being checks (not all of them) that citizens can't do on their own due to laziness, "I'm locked in the cemetary, come get me out," "Ride with our ambulance because a 10-year-old child is having an asthma attack," "My 8-year-old child is trying to fight me, send me the police," "McDonald's gave me cold fries, send me the police," all of these are just the tip of the iceberg - and just a typical day/night at OEMC.

To the POs who ask us "are you serious?" when we give them these calls, yes. We are. Our administration made it very clear some years ago that if people ask for/demand to see the police, we are to send them - whether it's a police matter or not. Years ago, if we told citizens that we weren't sending the police for non-police matters, the complaint would be "squashed" once said citizens talked to the floor supervisors.

Now, if we tell citizens that we aren't sending the police for non-police matters, we're looking at possible CIs and suspensions for "failure to provide police service," along with the favorite catch-all "Conduct unbecoming a city employee" (Is that automatically inserted at the end of every CI number issued?). And, of course, the police unit sitting at your house teaching you how to raise your child or trying to bargain some "hot fries" for you could be responding to some woman getting pummelled by her boyfriend.

New York still tells its citizens that they're not sending the police for many calls. Guess that's more proof that we'll always be the "Second City."

Suspensions

There haven't been mass suspensions handed down in quite some time. Within recent years, we've gone the whole summer (Read: Peak Call Volume Period) with almost no suspensions handed down. We doubt that anyone employed at OEMC for the whole of the last 3 years has forgetten these occurrences:

Slim-to-no chances of receiving suspension days during the summer while call volume is at its highest and we're "needed" the most.

Almost more suspension notices to hand out than floor supervisors could get around to amidst their other duties, once the "peak period" has ended.

Extremely heavy-handed disciplinary action that all but did away with the "progressive discipline" concept.

Suspensions for incidents that the involved were never formally notified they were under investigation for.

As the summer winds down, we don't know if there's a barrage of CIs and/or suspensions in our near future, and this isn't a supposition that they are. But based on "past practice," we'll see one way or another before we believe one way or another.

You do the math.

Why is it that the public is continuously informed that there is enough manpower to cover the city's emergency needs if:

There are, according to averages, over 6,000,000 911 calls now per year;

The PCO1 (Calltakers) roster lists less than 250 PCO1s to handle these calls, and a few of those are detailed off of the Ops Floor;

Operations can hardly maintain the "stats" that management expects, even with the overabundances of voluntary and mandatory overtime worked by PCO1s and PCO2s;

And the Police Department claims to have over 13,000 sworn members, over 3,000 of which are in supervisory positions, to respond to the calls for service? And this number doesn't take into account those sworn members who are detailed to special units (or desks) and do not respond to radio calls at all?

We shudder at the thought of what would happen in a true emergency situation. Does anyone honestly think the city is prepared for such?

In light of comments posted, we would like to add that we think that the "As soon as resources permit" farce that we're told to pawn off on citizens when they ask when they can expect the police is ludicrous. It helps set us up for the inevitable CI numbers that come for Delay of Dispatch when citizens (and our own bosses) fault *us* for the lack of police manpower, and as a result, failure to help them get prompt police service.

GPS?

Anonymous asked,

GPS anyone?

Since this is the OEMC blog would anyone of you confirm or deny the use of it?

There have been many a post saying it is used and many stating it is not. It is known that it is use for some "investigations" but is OEMC activiely tracking cars? Is it a trial run on a few cars or more prevalent?

If it is in use how come when beat XXXX is running and is not able to give out a precise location for whatever reason, can the dispatcher then give location of vehicle and send units in that direction.

6:03 AM

Okay, we'll officially confirm it unofficially (we're not official spokespersons for OEMC). As was said by 2 previous anonymous posters, we do not have GPS tracking on the zones/citywides. It is strictly rumor. There is as much validity to this rumor as there probably is to the rumor that CPD went back to a bunch of older, beat-up Police Interceptors and put trackers/modules on all of them.

Minimally most of the people on the Operations Floor (ourselves included) are even unaware of "investigations" that it's used in.

And, since it's not in use, when a dispatcher can give a correction location of a unit running and unable to transmit much, it could be because:

The dispatcher heard a location/direction through the other open keys in the field (we can on occasion);

The dispatcher's pedal was open while he/she asked for a location and inadvertently "covered up" the chasing unit as he/she yelled out a location (it happens on occasion during the quick back-&-forth on occasion). The dispatcher then simply repeats the information for the assisting units;

The unit is chasing someone from the job we just sent them on, or;

On more rare occasion, the unit put themselves down on the PDT so we can look at the location and start sending assists there.

Hope this helps clear up some confusion.

Officer Safety: Whose responsibility?

Age-old question. Officers are responsible to their partners & brethren in the field, dispatchers are responsible to officers, OEMC and CPD are responsible for ensuring open lines of communication, and CPD is responsible to its sworn employees in that [safety] equipment should be up to par.

But when there's a lapse, whose fault is it? We pose this question because within the last two days, there was a breakdown.

Gang unit asks for an assist at "Street X." Dispatcher asks "Street X and what?" to get a cross street/location to get help going to. Gang unit repeats "Street X." Dispatcher asks again, and other units in the field say that the unit may be at Location A. Dispatcher gets units going to Location A. Watch Commander comes over the air and annoyedly states "SQUAD, they're detailed to Location B." Dispatcher states that she was never made aware, and gets units going to Location B. After all is said and done (and thankfully no officers are injured), gang unit sarcastically "thanks" the dispatcher for "all your help," clearly indicating the opinion that the fault lies with the dispatcher.

We regularly have officers on our zones that we don't know exist. We rarely get gang/tactical lineups for many districts. Although many dispatchers may not keep track of where units are, or occasionally during a relief switch such information is lost, many officers seem to have the belief that they aren't required to tell us where they are, we're not their "bosses," we have no right to "check" on them and make sure they're where they say they are.

And when a unit on-views a disturbance and screams for help from a location unknown to the zone, they believe it's the dispatcher's fault, even in situations where their PCAD location is a mile from where they need help and they never informed the zone/citywide of the change.

We don't dispute that we're not out in the field, and therefore don't live the stress of literally fighting for our lives. But we can't get help to where police haven't told us they are. Officer safety in the field goes both ways.

La Cucaracha

Breaking news:

Cockroaches spotted at a particular dispatch console. We wonder how they got to the Floor. We hope that full-floor infestation does not follow. That is all.

Our Fearless Leader.

Somewhat like what Batman said, "We've tried to avoid all this, but we can't." We decided at the beginning not to address this, but the public speaks.

We were reminded once again yesterday that concensus on the Ops Floor is that "the 'M' started with the promotion of M. Seems it all went downhill from there."

In a city of clout scandals and "who-you-know," we wonder why this person was rumored to have made racist comments during an on-the-floor argument with a co-worker while still a dispatcher; had one of the least personable attitudes that we personally remember out of co-workers; was promoted to floor supervisor for a short amount of time in spite of her record of medical abuse; functioned as Acting Watch Manager less than 5 times during her "tenure" as a floor supervisor; was promoted to Acting Deputy Director within a year of her supervisor promotion (and was the least senior floor supervisor at the time she was promoted to her current position); and, according to the consensus floating around the Floor, has single-handedly done more to destroy employee morale than any administration collectively has in the history of OEMC.

We'll let the comments say the rest. Keep it as clean as possible.

Where does the money go?

Browsing the comments section brings about another valid topic:

Segways.

Fine, we understand that "Emergency Management" is allegedly funded with "Homeland Security" money, or what have you. But can anyone give us a legitimate reason why TMA people are riding around on segways? Or why the Operations Center is so wonderfully and yet we're still sitting at the same old out-of-date consoles that OEMC can't even get parts for because they're so outdated? Can we even get a cleaning? We're tired of choking on the dust that blows from within the consoles every time we turn on the fans on the consoles. We're just about as tired of breathing the same "corroded" air since ventilation leaves much to be desired (thanks to architects/designers who thought it would be a great idea to have no opening windows and just about as many outside air intake/exhaust vents).

We think the city is doing a fine job of proving to us that we (911 Operations) are the least important part of the 911 Center.

Serious liability issues.

Anyone who has been at OEMC for some years remembers when it was called "OEC" without the M. And anyone who was an employee of "OEC" remembers that the start of the "M" coincides with the drastic slowdown of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and written orders.

There used to be an SOP for most of the daily goings-on on the Floor. Sure, they were disputed at times, and the interpretations varied a bit because of the wording (and personal opinions). But they were available for reference.

Now we still have the SOPs from years ago. But we also have several conflicting "directives" that are published via CAD mail, or even worse, via CAD message. If there is a directive we can get hanged for (and we will), it should be in official WRITING, not in E-mail. This is the government, not "Office Space" with cubicles. Some of the mail "directives" have been in direct conflict with SOPs. So what do we refer to in our To-Froms answering to inevitable CI (Complaint Investigation) numbers for following these "directives?" Do we go back and search for CAD mails from 5 months prior?

We have lost faith in the "Communications" part of the "Office of Emergency Management and Communications."


P.S. Courtesy of the reader who asked about public viewing of our SiteMeter (and your webmasters, of course), you may now publicly view it. We do get the "couple hundred hits" mentioned. And we ask that you spread the word.

Assigned Zones/Rotations.

As everyone knows, most zones on all three watches have "regulars," that is, dispatchers who usually work those certain zones. This has been debated for years with many yeas and nays from dispatchers all the way up to management. Some have suggested that zones should keep the same dispatchers, while others have suggested that dispatchers should be rotated every week or every month/period. Judging from the comments sections, we can safely say it's an issue to officers in the field also.

In a time when officer safety seems to not be the primary concern of OEMC as it was said to be by management when many of us were first hired, we feel that this is one of the few remaining "safety" nets. "Regulars" tend to know their units by voices, know their units' work habits (workers and dogs, competents and not-so-competents), and know their areas' nooks and crannies...and "hot spots." Sure, dispatchers run the gamut from having no zone preference all the way to having a heart attack if not placed on "their zones." However, the fact remains that it is safer for officers in the field to have competent dispatchers who, if they don't know the zone, at least know the job well.

We've been fairly lenient with comments so far (and appreciate the lack of abuse). But we ask that if people choose to leave comments on this post, they refrain from using names. We'll take "Zone XX on XXX Watch." We'll even deal with "PDXX." But please, no names.

Deputy Director of Police and Fire Operations.

Whatever it's called, who is it going to be? Who's going to be the next direct head of Police Communications, with the added responsibilty of Fire Communications? What direction will this person take us in, and will it be someone from within? Or will it be someone from outside who has no clue about what we do/put up with/go through on a daily basis?

We wonder. More accurately, we sit on the edges of our seats in anticipation for the Next Chapter.

The City: Its own bank breaker.

The Sun-Times reminds of us of why the city continues to turn its pockets inside out.

City building inspector admits to filing a false report on a porch inspection. 3rd floor railing breaks the next day. 9 year old girl falls to her death from said 3rd floor, which had been inspected by said inspector. Said inspector gets fired. And same inspector later gets his job back.

Guess the city didn't get enough of building inspector problems after last year with the 18 year-old scandal.

If one of us "contributed," as the city apparently alleged, to the death of a citizen, the city would string a noose before the litigating family could even get off of the phone. The city *quietly* (shhhh) "signed off on an agreement with that resulted in...suspension without pay for more than four months." The four months of pay obviously will cover the costs of the litigation.

We don't like lawyers/unions. We now believe that it's because we haven't been represented by the ones who represent building inspectors.

Comments still welcome.

We are pleased.

Aside from one comment (which we promptly deleted), we have enjoyed being able to read the comments sections and see people's points-of-view. And we have enjoyed not having to step in and heavy-handedly moderate. We were asked not to let this blog degenerate, and we shall not. This blog was initially created with the primary purpose of bringing PCO Is and IIs together in an outlet to vent, and more importantly, to be comrades - disagreements and all. The blog was not created with the unrealistic hope that everyone would hold hands together and sing "Cumbayah," we mentioned in the Welcome thread that there's a serious lack of togetherness at OEMC.

But to the venom-spewing person who hates the "fbcmw's" he/she works with, and is sick of most of his/her coworkers, including the ones who started this blog:

Hypocrisy is really something. The blog has served the exact same purpose for you as it has for everyone else - it allowed you to vent. And "bitch, complain, moan, and whine."

And didn't it feel good?

Bud Billiken Parade.

One question.

Any bets on how many children are intentionally "lost" and left behind until nightfall once the parents are done hanging out? Or until Tuesday?

Good luck and godspeed to whoever has the detail on CW5/6 (and the backlash on Zone 5) on 2nd and 3rd Watches. It's a yearly killer.

TMAs.

Ever drive through downtown? Or the City of Chicago at all? Ever see TMAs?

What are they doing out there? Not to say that there aren't some out there doing a decent job (as decent a job as can be done without involved training, which is no fault of their own), but a whistle and a Light Saber do not a traffic aide make. We have heard through the grapevine that a TMA attempted to "curb" a dispatcher with the green light bar on his vehicle, and we have personally witnessed TMAs in the middle of major traffic jams standing idly by holding conversations with each other.

The city's infinite wisdom strikes again. Why just rely on and install/upgrade to new traffic signals when we can pay 300 people $15 an hour to direct traffic according to the traffic signals already in place? Wait, let's do both!

Does anyone know if TMAs have started writing "jaywalking tickets?" We doubt that most citizens would give them enough respect to stop and receive a summons from them. Citizens often don't give POLICE enough respect for that.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Maybe someone else can chime in and assist us in locating our little corner of Local 21 on the IBEW Local 21 website, because we surely aren't finding it. But it has to be there, we're too important for it not to be.

Our management doesn't respect our union or its business representative (he's often denied access to the building for the rare meetings), and our union and business representative don't respect us. Nothing's changed over the years, people. We're still partly at the mercy of Crossing Guards, who are in our bargaining unit and outnumber us by, say, 1600 or more? Management continues to treat us like they wish they could dump us in the trash bins behind Monroe Pavilion. Our own "Employee Liaison" treats us as if we're her stepchildren, and our union doesn't do very much to stop the shabby treatment we receive.

We hear a lot of talk about how fed up people are with the union, and how we should find a union that will actually stand with us, but we never see any action. Consider this a stand for action. Talk is cheap.

Where oh where can my little car park?

We the people of the Ops floor are thoroughly disgusted by the parking situation at OEMC. People have to park in aisles, upside down, and almost on top of each other to make it in the "company parking lot," which was originally for us. Now that Streets & Sanitation, TMAs (another post of its own), and whoever else the city may decide there's room for in our cramped quarters, are here? They take up half the parking lot.

We understand the need to find parking, apparently "By Any Means Necessary." Noone's going to park in the unsecured gravel lot two blocks away from the job. But we DON'T understand how people see imaginary "Reserved for XXXXXXXX" signs at the front of the lot near the handicapped parking spaces.

Maybe the city should stop trying to squeeze Operations out of its own building and making it the least important part of OEMC.

But at least they got rid of those foot-tall speed bumps at the guard shack.

"WIth A Little Help."

As Joe Cocker would say. SecondCityCop has linked to this blog, and this blog is glad to do the same. We'll expect and welcome a lot of traffic from there, and will continue to stick to the policy addressed in the Welcome post. We also wonder how many more people would be needed to monitor the blog to keep it from becoming a mud-slinging cess pool.

Red alert? Orange alert? Why didn't we know?

The media is better about reporting danger to us than our job is.

It is amazing that we had to find out from media outlets that the United States has raised the terror level to orange at the airports in light of terrorist arrests in the UK. And to red for all international flights.

As has been the case for the last 11 years, we find out about dangers that would drastically affect the lives of citizens, police, firefighters, paramedics, us...through the media when it's too late if something had happened. And that's if we're formally notified at all. Guess we better keep watching CLTV to stay abreast of what citizens might call about, or take the expressway to work every day so we can catch pertinent news on a banner board.

Looks like the big picture that the little people aren't seeing is that the little people don't matter.

New calltakers in two weeks.

The new class of calltakers everyone has been seeing will be hitting the floor in a week and a half. We appreciate any help we can get, and it's great that the city has hired more employees in the last 12 months than it had in the last 2 years combined. Just sad that they're coming in pretty much on the down side of the busiest season.

And it would be nice to get some more dispatchers to cut down on mandatory overtime. All you overtime junkies, don't worry, they can't hire enough people to cut into your volunteer time. But it would be nice to not be held over for 3-4 hours.

And now that they'll be new on the floor, give them whatever assistance they need. If they ask for advice, give it. If they're not sure about what to make a ticket and they ask, let them know without being condescending. The high-and-mighty attitudes that people develop when they forget that they were new at one point too, don't do anything but divide us more.

And new people, if you're reading this, drop the attitudes. The last couple of groups of new hires have had attitudes aplenty when seasoned employees have offered suggestions or help. That attitude is equally divisive.

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

On 3rd Watch yesterday a woman left a bloody tampon floating in a toilet of the restroom off the police side of the Ops Floor.

Come on, ladies. Noone needs to see that. What kind of upbringing does that show? There are paper products and garbage cans in the washrooms for a reason. Use them both. Wrap it like a Subway sandwich, and please put litter in its place. If you choose to ignore what the tampon box tells you not to do, and you try to flush it down the toilet anyway, could you at least check behind yourself and make sure it goes down? You wouldn't want a pink surprise in your bowl either.

OEMC Awards.

Today, OEMC held its first awards ceremony in what, 2 years? 3 years? They used to have an "Employee of the Month" ceremony once a month. What's next, "Employee of the Decade" because that's how frequently awards will be given?

Most of the awards went to 2nd Watch employees. Apparently no other watch does as much work or matters as much. And many people, unless we need some correction or clarification, are still in awe at the fact that the Training staff all received awards, apparently for training employees.

Mind you, no bones are being made about the fact that OEMC finally decided to recognize some of its Ops Floor workers for their work. And in that aspect, congratulations are in order for award recipients.

But is there some big picture the little people are failing to see? Or should it be as plain as day?

511 for traffic information.

According to today's Sun-Times, IDOT is looking to create 5-1-1 as a number for citizens to call for information on traffic congestion and foul weather.

Great, now there can be an onslaught of people calling 911 and tying up the lines even more because they don't know how to the dial a phone. Just like with 411, just like with 611, and just like with 311.

311 has been around for more than 5 years and people are still calling 911 asking "What's the number to 311?" Can't wait to see what 511 brings. Calls will ring in to 911 with people saying "I know it's not an emergency, but...what's that number that's plastered all over the news and the CTA buses that you can call for traffic information again?"

Mandatory overtime.

Now that the ground rules are out of the way, I think the first thing I should bring up is the thing that best keeps people's nuts in a sling/breasts in a vise.

Mandatory overtime.

With the exception of 1st Watch (on very rare occasion)...everyone feels the weight of it. 4th Watch gets held multiple times a week. 5th Watch gets held multiple times a week. 3rd Watch is almost sure to get held 3-5 times a week (especially on weekends). And 2nd Watch gets held over on less-rare occasion.

And all of this is after volunteers are taken into account. I don't mean a message around the room stating "We're looking for volunteers." I mean sign-up sheets. Does anyone notice while they're signing up for overtime that there's no room on the sheets? It's so bad that people have to sign their names on the borders of the paper. Or in the little crevices where there's no print. Hell, people write over the print. Any number of people up to 20.

And yet we're still so short-handed that people get held over. Or get their lunches and breaks cancelled (especially on 1st Watch). Maybe if the city would hire more people to field/dispatch these 911 calls for non-police matters then we wouldn't be so short-staffed. Administration says they put in requests to City Hall, & City Hall denies most of the slots they want to fill. Who knows.

But if the city DID hire more people than they have recently...where are these people going to sit? We're maxed out on room for bodies. Or, at least, enough bodies to field the thousands and thousands of 911 calls that come in during one 8-hour shift Guess noone considered 11 years ago when the building was designed/built/opened that the call volume would rise with the population.

Or with the rampant use of cell phones that allow unsupervised 3-5 year-olds, who can't spell their own names, the opportunity to play on the phone and invite calltakers to orally stimulate their little nasty, dusty, undeveloped crotches.

Welcome.

This blog has been created for day-to-day rants about the trials of working what is known as the "Ops Floor" at Chicago's 911 Center.

The job itself, mind you. Not "I hate Suzy 'cause she thinks she's cute" type of bullshit. There's enough dissention/lack of solidarity at the JOB every day. Insults hurled that include the names of blue/white shirts active on the "Ops Floor" will be either edited to remove the names...or flat-out deleted. And no, I will not give out any identifiers (name, IP address, etc...) to people who feel "slighted."

Hate the job? Leave a comment. Love the job? Leave a comment, although there probably won't be many of those.

Will update with news as job-related events occur.

Oh, yeah...and comments will be monitored & edited/deleted as necessary. Or did I mention that already. And will be moderated if they get absolutely fucking ridiculous. Not trying to prohibit free speech. But this isn't "Bad Dispatchers" from the SCC blog either. There will NOT be personal attacks (i.e., "Yo momma, that bitch" or "You dick-sucking cunt") on fellow calltakers and dispatchers. Vent all you want about the messed up ticket you got on the zone, how stressed out you got because the person you worked with on the zone is a moron when it comes to doing the job, calltakers can even bitch about the stress of dealing with the sorry ass idiot citizens (or us idiot dispatchers).

But there won't be mentioning of real names. Period.
Thanks for visiting.