he Festus Police Department Communications Center is staffed, 7 days per week, 24 hours per day, by 7 civilian dispatchers, 2 civilian supervisors, under the command of a Sergeant. All dispatchers are certified on the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, and meet all SEMA requirements. The Communications Center provides services for:
Festus Police Department
Festus Fire Department-both city
and rural
Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District
Along with after hour’s emergency calls for all Festus City Utilities
Their duties involve, but are not limited to, answering all 911 calls and all non-emergency calls for service. Classifying, prioritizing and dispatching the appropriate Police Department, Fire Department, and Ambulance personnel to calls for service. Monitoring their status while on the calls, as well as supplying any additional information needed during the duration of the call. Data entry and retrieval in the various law enforcement computer systems. Assisting citizens that walk into the station, along with after hour’s emergency calls for all city services. Often times the ultimate responsibility for the protections of a person’s life, health, safety, and property begins with a phone call to the dispatcher. Each of the 2 workstations possesses a 911 console, a Motorola Command Star 12 channel radio system, and administrative phone lines. In addition, each workstation is equipped with an ITI Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) System. This system allows the dispatchers to enter, monitor, and terminate calls for service, and plays an integral part in keeping track of the calls handled, calls pending, and units available for calls. This system can also alert responding units to possible hazards/dangers at locations throughout our service area. The CAD system also provides a means for the dispatchers to “flag” an address, and anytime the flagged address is entered into the system the stored information will automatically be added to the call for service, and be available to responding personnel. Some of the reasons to flag information could include known medical conditions that can be passed onto responding paramedics. Emergency or family contact information so that a family member can be notified in case of emergency. The Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement (MULES) system allows the dispatchers to obtain information such as drivers license, and vehicle status, wanted information, along with entering lost/stolen information and communicating with other law enforcement agencies. The dispatcher center monitors the Locator System, which supplies information through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This system allows the dispatchers immediate access to any missing children or adults, along with the ability to immediately add Missing, Runaway, and Lost, persons into the nationwide system.
