Vehicle No Radio Call Time Out Time In Vehicle Status: Fill & Download for Free

DO NOT approach the vehicle until you notify dispatch of your location, the tag of the vehicle and make and color of the vehicle. This will ensure:If you get shot, they know where you are…If you get into a fight, they know where you are…If are unable to answer a request from dispatch on your status (if either 1 or 2 above is taking place), they know where you are…If any of the above (1, 2, 3) are taking place, they know the details about the vehicle you just stopped.I can’t tell you how many times I have heard officers get on the radio and call out a traffic stop - and give the information on the vehicle and go straight into giving the driver’s license information. This clearly shows they violated officer safety. Why would they do that? Because when they made the initial stop, there was radio traffic taking place and they did not want to wait.I know, today (I was talking almost 10 years ago), they use computers to do all of this…but an officer has to make absolutely sure dispatch knows his location. 100% of the time.I’ve known several instances when the crap hit the fan for an officer.Case #1: This rookie violated that officer safety policy and ended up in a fight on the side of the road. He did not have time to reach for his radio or to push the panic button on the radio. He fought for almost 5 minutes before finally getting the driver into a position where he submitted and was arrested. The officer told me later, “he learned that lesson the hardway.”Case #2: An officer DID let dispatch know where he was. He was one of two officers on duty at that detachment, plus their shift sergeant. It just happened that the officer had a DUI arrest. The shift sergeant was also a “breath tech” on duty that night. They were both in the holding cell area doing the breath test on the DUI arrestee. Our radio’s did not work that well in certain areas of the building…and this was one of those areas.Officer 2 makes a traffic stop, calls out the information and proceeds to make contact with the driver. He detects the odor of alcohol, calls in the driver information to dispatch and informs them he will be doing the DUI Field Sobriety tests. As he is conducting the test, the passenger exits the vehicle. (This happens about 50% of the time. The officer stops the test and immediately, in a command voice, instructs the passenger to get back in the vehicle. Usually, they comply). In this case, as soon as the officer’s attention moved to the passenger - the driver attacks the officer! Then the passenger joins the fun.The officer could not reach his radio to call for help. He was fighting two people at the same time (we train for this). In the mean time, dispatch discovers that the driver has a warrant out for his arrest and is known to resist arrest as well. The dispatcher calls out to the officer, who is too busy fighting for his life to respond. She calls again…no response. She calls for the sergeant (who is only about 100 yards away, in the office building, but in an area where the radio’s sometimes do not work). She calls the sergeant again…no response. She immediately calls out to “any officer able to respond to….(the location of the traffic stop). The nearest officer was in our detachment area, about 5 miles away.Our officer runs code (on the highway) and is pulling on location about 3 minutes later, and sees the fight taking place. He calls in the code word for Officer Needs Help and exits his car and joins the fight. Now we have other units responding as well, as both of them are engaged and unable to respond to their radio calls.About one minute later, both subjects are in cuffs and the second officer is able to contact dispatch and let everyone know they are OK and the subjects are in cuffs. About this time, two more units arrive…we now have four units just 100 yards from this detachment HQ’s - the entire area is flashing lights and lighting up the complex…when the sergeant finishes the DUI test and returns to his desk, looking out the window and sees all of this taking place.The original officer had to fight almost 7 minutes before help arrived. Fighting two people at the same time. If he had not called out the location before making a stop, it would have been several more minutes before the sergeant returned to an area where he could have observed the fight and responded to assist.This was a HUGE “Lesson Learned” for our officers to ALWAYS call out your location to dispatch. If you have to wait for the radio traffic to calm down, do so. (Sometimes, if one detachment was too busy to handle another call, we switch frequencies and call another detachment (we had three in a five mile radius). Point being - ALWAYS call in your location.One additional side note. Because of that situation, our department began the process of upgrading our radio system to digital instead of the old style radio’s. It did not happen immediately (it took about 5 years for the complete upgrade). We also began the process of using computers to communicate as well.Hope this gives you some perspective on WHY an officer needs to call in his location to dispatch - and update them as circumstances dictate as well.

I’m a former 911 dispatcher. There have been so many calls that have been burned into my memory, but there are a few short ones in particular come to mind.First was a lady who was in labor. This was her 6th baby and she was only 24 years old. There was nobody with her. I began giving her instructions over the phone while medics were already dispatched. Next thing I know she has had the baby and already delivered the placenta (I know I was a little confused too) and was putting her pants on. I asked her where the baby was and she said it hit the wall, fell on the floor, and was covered with the baby meat (placenta). I asked her if the baby was crying and she refused to check on it. I tried to convince her to get the baby, but she still refused. I wanted to choke her through the phone. Fortunately, medics arrived on scene and helped the lady and her baby. Both were transported, but I never found out the outcome of the baby.Second was another pregnant lady in labor. (Yeah everyone else in dispatch got to enjoy great child births and I always had the bad ones.) She was driving to the hospital and pulled over on the on-ramp to the interstate. I was trying to give her directions, but she didn’t know where she was. She did tell me a description of her car. While trying to pinpoint her location, medics were searching all of the ramps to the interstate. She told me the baby was coming and within seconds she had delivered. I asked her if the baby was crying and she said no. I asked her if she had the baby in her arms and she said no it was on the floor. I instructed her to get the baby and I would give her instructions to get the baby breathing and cut the cord. She refused to get the baby off the floor. I couldn’t believe it. Medics were finally able to locate her and transported both to the hospital. Again I was not able to find out the outcome of the baby.Next was a lady who had to have either been suicidal, on drugs or alcohol, or both. She ran around the lanes of the interstate according to the driver of the semi truck but he couldn’t stop. She was obliterated and passing vehicles that didn’t realize what was going on continued to hit body parts on the highway. I was working the Fire/EMS radio that night when one of the units began talking to me. While he was talking I heard a unit in the background saying “there’s another leg over there”. According to one of the police officers on the scene, body parts were found over a two mile stretch on the interstate and the interstate was shut down for hours as they processed the scene.Last is the worst one. There was a hotel fire and one of the occupants was with his family in the room. Dad called in and said they couldn’t get out the door because of the fire and they couldn’t reach the window due to smoke. The whole family was in the bathroom. I told them to wet rags in the sink and put them over their mouths/noses to help filter some of the smoke. In an effort to hopefully keep them from burning, they were asked to all get down low in the shower and turn on the cold water. Honestly, I’m not sure if that would have even helped. I kept checking in with the father to get status updates as I kept yelling to the Fire/EMS radio to get someone to their room. You could hear coughing and crying and panic in the background, but the voices became silent. Finally the father stopped talking. The whole family was found dead in the shower.Dispatch was probably the most passionate job I ever had that I hated at the same time. In a busy jurisdiction, there was rarely a day that went by where something bad didn’t happen. The units you dispatch give you attitude, the callers on the phone yell at and insult you, and the other dispatchers in the room are just as stressed out as you are. For the work dispatchers do and the passion they have for their duties, it is one of the most thankless jobs to have. This job made me cry, made me hate myself, made me proud of myself, made me hate people, made me love people, stressed me out to the max, and built an interdepartmental camaraderie like no other I’ve experienced.Thank you to 911 dispatchers everywhere.

In what WAS my profession, years ago, I could tell you many secrets. I worked in a church in the ministry a very long time ago, and people probably should know a few things about church workers. (This is all my biased opinion and not always agreed with by others)Ministers do not know everything. I realize that most would superficially agree, but in real life, people seem to expect a person working in a church to know the whole Bible, memorized, and be able to explain every single thing. Furthermore, they also are expected to have the Book of Common Prayer or its equivalent, the history of the world from creation, words and music to every single hymn composed, a comprehensive knowledge of psychology, all Biblical languages known fluently (including Egyptian hieroglyphics, in one case), the geography of the holy land, and whatever else was taught in bible college and more, memorized. And Much more. Don’t hold your breath.Ministers are not perfect. Most really do try and are very sincere, and start out full of caffeine and vinegar ready to serve God and be a good Christian. But, reality is, humans are often screw ups, and will, in fact, make mistakes. We all have weaknesses, and some, doing so well in conquering other vices, still might get stuck on one or two, and struggle with them greatly. It could be a lot of things, but what stands out (and gets tons of publicity) is sexual vices and greed. Not everyone has these problems. Ego and pride don’t seem to be major problems, but to God, they are. It won’t hit the headlines (“preacher too proud of himself!”), but it can cause his or her fall just like sexual sin or greed.Ministers cannot do everything. A minister is often called upon to help others in the congregation and outside of it, not just in spiritual matters but sometimes paint the house, fix the car, or give them rides here and there. Sometimes they can but, often, they have their own families and business and cannot. Then some get upset because the minister is not “on call” 24/7. That is why the office of the deacon was created, in Acts 6. That is why Moses had to learn to delegate authority in Exodus 18. But some people get actually miffed when the Pastor or Bishop won’t personally come to help them move or tell their neighbor to stop letting their dog tear up their yard.Ministers often have families and lives and jobs. Those responsibilities are just as important and serious as serving the congregation. In fact, the Bible says that one of the qualifications of a Bishop is that he takes care of his family well (1 Tim 3:4,5). So, in addition to what most adults have to do, have a family and job and some recreation and time for rest, they also have to study and prepare sermons and spend quality time in prayer, real, sincere prayer and meditation. Many skimp on this and are truly too tired or busy, but, to be a minister adequately, some time HAS to be carved out for this. Without prayer, being a preacher is basically being a “public speaker”, someone who gives nice speeches. They have to take the time and energy to interact with God on a spiritual level, or it is just a charade.Ministers, usually, are not psychologists. When they “counsel”, usually they are going to listen, nod, and seem to sympathize, then, after a reasonable amount of time, say, “let’s pray about it”, then launch into a very nice prayer about the situation, and send them on their way with their blessing. It’s not as if they don’t care, but many are not trained in pastoral counseling properly, and those who are, don’t always have the character and temperament to counsel. They can have a PhD in counseling and still not have the character and temperament to counsel. In other words, they don’t care about other people’s problems and don’t have all the answers, and often don’t have ANY of the answers. They might sincerely want to help and sincerely have empathy and desire to do something to alleviate your suffering, but there’s only so much they can do. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are some pastoral counselors that are fantastic, and have all the right elements needed in a good counselor, but NOT necessarily a college education. Some have a GED, but have the heart of a counselor and maturity and experience to actually do something to help others.Some ministers have no business being in the ministry. But they have learned to put on the front so well, go through all the motions, say all the right words, execute the proper body language, wear the right clothes, make judicious use of religious symbols, have the acceptable social status, be official members of the proper clubs and societies, drive the right vehicles, have the right professions, live in the right neighborhood, and seem to be the perfect example of a “minister”, but some really don’t believe the gospel, the bible, or in God at all. Some are actual atheists or agnostics; some practice occult arts; some are mentally ill. They act like ministers, because it is an act. For whatever reasons, they chose the “ministry” and use it to advance themselves in society. Some make it on TV and radio, write books, and literally rake in millions. Not all of them, but there are some real, horrible examples to the rest of the world of what a Christian and what a Minister of Christ is. Some, like me, were far too immature for the ministry, in the ‘80’s. Some of them were fairly quickly exposed. Others manage to perpetuate the charade for decades. I knew one “pastoral counselor” whose “counseling” was based upon his own psychotherapy and mental health treatment. He basically copied what they did with him. I heard he is still pretending to be a pastoral counselor, over 30 years later.There is actually more I could add, but that’s enough for now. The real ministers know this is all true, and the fake ones will be squirming, probably calling me bad names. I don’t care. I’m no longer active in the formal ministry because I know it’s not for me and I will not PRETEND. But I certainly learned a lot from those days.