Coffee with the Chief - Mon., January 14

Every month Woodstock Police Chief Bob Lowen hosts a Coffee with the Chief at police headquarters on Lake Avenue.

On Monday, January 14, Chief Lowen's meeting with feature the Communications section of the Department, and Sgt. Richard Johns will explain how the dispatchers work.

Things are a lot different from my dispatching days at a sheriff's department in Colorado. We answered the phones and dispatched deputies. My first duties with that department were at the dispatch console, while I was awaiting patrol training. As soon as that was completed, it was "So long" to dispatch.

But I enjoyed it, because I understand how things were supposed to happen between deputies and dispatchers. Right away I did have the other dispatchers mad at me, because I anticipated the needs of the deputies and had information ready for them before they requested it. When I was not on duty, the deputies still wanted the information fast, as I had provided it. This made more work for the other dispatchers, who were used to just waiting for a deputy to request clearances, if he did.

Typically, a deputy would radio in the license plate of the vehicle he was stopping. Dispatchers would wait for him to request whether the plate was "clear"; i.e., whether the license was listed on the Wanted list. When I was at the radio, as soon as the deputy radioed in the plate, I ran the clearance, and I could tell him before he got out of his car whether or not the plate was clear.

Being "clear" didn't mean that the deputy could just stroll up to the car. All it told him was that, at that moment, we did not get an adverse response from the computer system. The car could be "hot" or the owner wanted, and we just might not have known about it yet.

In addition to the County, we dispatched for several small departments. I remember a couple of calls I got from sergeants with those small departments to thank me for the way I handled the radio communications. With me, there was no chatter. I gave the deputies information that they needed to know - clearly, crisply, briefly, directly.

With computers in the squad cars, things are different today. Frankly, I wonder what distraction the in-car computers are. How many officers attempt to read their computer screens while the car is moving? Do departments prohibit this? How many officers attempt to use the computer (enter data), while the squad car is moving? How many wrecks or near-misses have there been here or in McHenry County?

Kind of gives new meaning to DWT, doesn't it? Driving While Texting.

When you come to the Chief's Coffee, bring your questions about what's going on in your neighborhood. The meeting will start at 7:00PM and will conclude by 8:30PM. There is usually a good turn-out; bring your neighbors.