By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com
Headset in place and her fingers poised on the keyboard, Sacramento police dispatcher Beth Baron answered the phone in a crisp, clear voice.
"911, what is your emergency?"
For a few seconds, the caller did not answer.
"Hello?" Baron asked.
As it turned out, the caller wanted the Sacramento Fire Department's business line to report that unnecessary equipment was being installed at the hotel where he was staying.
Baron supplied him the number, but when she pressed for more details, he hung up.
Inside the police department's communications center on San Joaquin Street, dispatchers monitor calls on computer screens filled with codes and abbreviations. At the same time, they juggle calls, monitor radios and keep track of officers' whereabouts so they can be dispatched to the nearest emergency call.
To be a dispatcher is to be able to multi-task.
Baron, who is a supervisor, said there are "300-something abbreviations" and about 190 different types of codes to remember. And with each type of code comes a set of questions to ask, criteria to determine and course of action to take.
"A lot of what we do is a judgment call," Baron said.
Through November of this year, the communication center has received about 641,600 calls. Officers were dispatched for 357,817 of these calls and 169,000 of them were 911 calls, according to Katie Braverman, a supervising dispatcher. The department has 80 dispatchers, including supervisors.
Over the phone, dispatchers hear everything from "the sad perils of desperation" to "absolute joy," Baron said. The calls range from accounts of a fatal shooting to babies being born.
And sometimes it's the mundane and seemingly trivia - like the person who was upset that a pizzeria wasn't opened on Christmas or the person who couldn't change his ink cartridge.
"It's not our call to judge," Baron said. They answer every call with the same attitude - to offer help and resources, and a comforting voice in someone's hour of need.
Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.
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