King County 911 dispatchers on high alert since Dallas officer deaths

KING COUNTY, Wash. — The King County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center in Renton is actively recruiting new communications specialists, commonly referred to as 911 dispatchers.

However, that job is even tougher since five police officers were targeted in Dallas, according to longtime employee Tracy Nill. “Now I know that the deputies I’m working with are on-edge, and what I might have sent one officer to, I now might send two or three because we don’t know, is this another situation where they’re going to be ambushed?”

Nill knows what it feels like to be on the other end of a radio during an officer-involved shooting.

She handled the calls on Dec. 2, 2006 -- the night King County Sheriff's Deputy Steve Cox was killed.

“It’ll be 10 years this December. And every year I hope that it gets easier, but it doesn’t. It’s something that sticks with you,” Nill told KIRO 7. “It becomes very personal when you lose an officer.  Even if you might not see them on a regular basis, you hear their voices daily and they become a part of your team, part of your family.”

Nill has handled dispatch duty during six officer-involved shootings in the 21 years she's worked as a communications specialist for King County.

Since the five officers were killed in Dallas, Nill said she and her colleagues have been on high alert.

“There’s just an uneasiness that sets in when you sit down at your radio console. When I look at my screen and see I have 20, 25 officers, I want to send 20, 25 officers home at the end of that shift.”

“I tend to remain calm just because I’ve done this for so long,” she said.  “But in the heat of the moment, if things start to go, there’s that thought in the back of my mind, gosh, is this going to be another situation like Dallas?”

“It is a huge responsibility. We absolutely feel that we are the ones that have their backs," supervisor Debi Nelson agreed. “Now with everything going on, when a deputy goes out and does a simple traffic stop, we set a status check on them to check their safety, or check on them to see if they’re OK.”

“Silence is very scary,” Nelson said.

Feeling that pressure every day are the 80 KCSO Communications Center employees who answer 911 calls from the community and work over radio with law enforcement officers.

And King County is hoping to add eight more by early next year.

Both Nill and Nelson feel the benefits far outweigh the hardships.

“I go home and I just feel I’ve done something good for somebody today,” Nelson said.

>> “Make a difference in someone’s life, Become a 911 Operator.”

>> 911 Communications Specialist job posting.

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