I grabbed my headset from my locker and
I had to line up for roll calling
assignments today I’m assigned to admin
which is taking both emergency and
non-emergency calls I walk in the phone
room find an empty console and plug in
my headset I am ready to get this day
started I always wonder what the day
will bring a bank robbery a big old
fight or illegal parking
I mean kids who won’t go to school I
turn on my mental dispatcher switch and
I start taking calls call bullying is
pretty light and I am catching up with
some co-workers when a 9-1-1 call comes
in to my console 9-1-1 what’s your
emergency
I’m going to jump off a bridge were you
calling from sir it doesn’t matter where
are you headed
they’ll find me when I’m done without a
location I can’t send help luckily he’s
calling from a smart phone so I can kind
of see his general area on my map where
he’s calling from I use that information
to get a call started and officers are
being dispatched to the middle of Balboa
Park what’s your name so I don’t have to
keep calling you sir my ID is in my
pocket they’ll know it when they find me
I am desperate for information to try to
connect with him anything too literally
talk him down can you give me a general
description of yourself how old are you
what are you wearing again it doesn’t
matter I’m feeling helpless my job is to
protect and serve he’s calling me for
help
but he won’t let me help him I can’t
I’m still continuing to follow him
southbound on my map and updating the
information for the officers in the area
we’ll just cause you to feel this way
today sir
no response what about friends loved
ones surely they care about you they
wouldn’t want you to follow through with
this this is a very permanent solution
to a temporary problem I can’t think of
them right now I can only think of this
officer is familiar with the area or
driving to nearby bridges to look for my
collar and now I can hear the sound of
cars I realize he’s on a bridge and I
can hear the car is rushing by on the
freeway below him this cannot happen not
his perception was the only option he
had help whatever he had going on was to
end his life imagine that your every day
is filled with voices in your head
telling you that you’re a terrible
person and you should just kill yourself
maybe you believe somebody lives in your
attic and they move things around while
you’re gone maybe if your voice is
coming from your unplugged TV set maybe
you feel that you have hit rock bottom
and the only option that you have is to
take your own life for this person that
is their life they are actually
experiencing this it actually exists for
them how do you reason with that how do
you bridge the gap between what is real
and what is it I need to try to see
things from their perspective and make
adjustments at the very basis level
we’re human and I need to try to connect
on occasion people create their own
truths usually to avoid taking
accountability for their actions these
problems are harder to solve as their
truth remains fluid always changing to
suit their situation they know the
actuality of the situation they refuse
to accept it we make regrettable life
choices sometimes we’re human but what
we do with or learn from these
experiences is what defines us our usual
day is filled with the unusual we expect
the unexpected how someone reacts to a
situation is not always reasonable I’ve
heard the mother of a seven-year-old
child who had gone missing in the middle
of the night sounds eerily calm
alternately I’ve heard a lady screaming
and freaking out because there’s a naked
man outside her business we once had a
six-year-old call us telling us about
how her father had been molesting her in
reality it was a 26 year old woman
calling to tell us what had happened to
her at that age she sounded just like a
child just when I thought I had heard
everything I hadn’t so I can only
imagine the confusion on the officers
faces when they got there did they
encounter 26 year-old woman or a very
mature looking six year old child I’ve
listened to a man beat his wife as his
child calls Naima one crying for help a
desperate husband with two toddlers
whose wife has just shot herself in her
closet as he holds her as she struggles
to breathe an adult son beating and
urinating on his mother on Christmas Eve
while she has heard screaming and
every situation is different and unique
it’s as if someone takes a jigsaw puzzle
dumps it in your lap takes the box away
and says now put that together we have
to take all these pieces of information
they’re being thrown at us and use them
to create a picture that makes sense
it’s a proper help and attempts to
create a solution we take 1.4 million
calls a year after 12 years on the job
that is a lot of heartache and sadness I
only hear the worst nobody calls us when
they’re having a good day
I probably should have given up hope
long ago realizing that people can be
mean and do terrible things to each
other but my job is awesome and amazing
the amount of lives that I get to touch
is just fantastic for a small moment I
get to share a sliver of their existence
with them and maybe I make a difference
maybe I’m that lifeline they needed in
their time of crisis maybe I’m able to
change their way of thinking to put them
on a better path than the one they had
previously been on every day we log into
our computers plug in our headsets and
do the best we can with the information
that we’re given so getting back to my
call I’m constantly updating my screen
to see if there’s any officers comments
on my incident and then I notice there’s
a little cop car right by where my
collar is calling from i refresh my mic
screen again and I see the officers
comments male on bridge on cell phone
we got him that’s my guy they make
contact they make sure that he’s okay
and they take him to get the help that
he needs
well I didn’t realize was the whole time
I was in the zone the rest of the room
ceased to exist it was just me and my
collar all of a sudden there is a huge
adrenaline dome and a flood of emotions
I log off my computer I throw my headset
on the desk and I be it to the ladies
room I’m angry and glad frustrated and
relieved all at once these emotions need
to outlet and I cry for the first time
at work that was seven years ago we have
to work on a wing and a prayer just
think if they had passed him earlier
they wouldn’t have known it was him as
we had no description to go on if they
had found him later it would be too late
and he would be dead the universe
brought them all together the right
place and at the right time to save a
bottom line is we’re all human everyone
different experiences but you never know
what that person next to you is going
through day to day what realities they
may be facing long ago Plato said be
kind for everyone you meet is fighting a
so after all these years of dealing with
all sorts all manners of emergencies in
crisis the best advice I can give to you
is have empathy for those around you we
may not walk in the same footsteps as
someone else but we certainly can walk
next to them and maybe reach out and
[Applause] [Music]
I had to line up for roll calling
assignments today I’m assigned to admin
which is taking both emergency and
non-emergency calls I walk in the phone
room find an empty console and plug in
my headset I am ready to get this day
started I always wonder what the day
will bring a bank robbery a big old
fight or illegal parking
I mean kids who won’t go to school I
turn on my mental dispatcher switch and
I start taking calls call bullying is
pretty light and I am catching up with
some co-workers when a 9-1-1 call comes
in to my console 9-1-1 what’s your
emergency
I’m going to jump off a bridge were you
calling from sir it doesn’t matter where
are you headed
they’ll find me when I’m done without a
location I can’t send help luckily he’s
calling from a smart phone so I can kind
of see his general area on my map where
he’s calling from I use that information
to get a call started and officers are
being dispatched to the middle of Balboa
Park what’s your name so I don’t have to
keep calling you sir my ID is in my
pocket they’ll know it when they find me
I am desperate for information to try to
connect with him anything too literally
talk him down can you give me a general
description of yourself how old are you
what are you wearing again it doesn’t
matter I’m feeling helpless my job is to
protect and serve he’s calling me for
help
but he won’t let me help him I can’t
I’m still continuing to follow him
southbound on my map and updating the
information for the officers in the area
we’ll just cause you to feel this way
today sir
no response what about friends loved
ones surely they care about you they
wouldn’t want you to follow through with
this this is a very permanent solution
to a temporary problem I can’t think of
them right now I can only think of this
officer is familiar with the area or
driving to nearby bridges to look for my
collar and now I can hear the sound of
cars I realize he’s on a bridge and I
can hear the car is rushing by on the
freeway below him this cannot happen not
his perception was the only option he
had help whatever he had going on was to
end his life imagine that your every day
is filled with voices in your head
telling you that you’re a terrible
person and you should just kill yourself
maybe you believe somebody lives in your
attic and they move things around while
you’re gone maybe if your voice is
coming from your unplugged TV set maybe
you feel that you have hit rock bottom
and the only option that you have is to
take your own life for this person that
is their life they are actually
experiencing this it actually exists for
them how do you reason with that how do
you bridge the gap between what is real
and what is it I need to try to see
things from their perspective and make
adjustments at the very basis level
we’re human and I need to try to connect
on occasion people create their own
truths usually to avoid taking
accountability for their actions these
problems are harder to solve as their
truth remains fluid always changing to
suit their situation they know the
actuality of the situation they refuse
to accept it we make regrettable life
choices sometimes we’re human but what
we do with or learn from these
experiences is what defines us our usual
day is filled with the unusual we expect
the unexpected how someone reacts to a
situation is not always reasonable I’ve
heard the mother of a seven-year-old
child who had gone missing in the middle
of the night sounds eerily calm
alternately I’ve heard a lady screaming
and freaking out because there’s a naked
man outside her business we once had a
six-year-old call us telling us about
how her father had been molesting her in
reality it was a 26 year old woman
calling to tell us what had happened to
her at that age she sounded just like a
child just when I thought I had heard
everything I hadn’t so I can only
imagine the confusion on the officers
faces when they got there did they
encounter 26 year-old woman or a very
mature looking six year old child I’ve
listened to a man beat his wife as his
child calls Naima one crying for help a
desperate husband with two toddlers
whose wife has just shot herself in her
closet as he holds her as she struggles
to breathe an adult son beating and
urinating on his mother on Christmas Eve
while she has heard screaming and
every situation is different and unique
it’s as if someone takes a jigsaw puzzle
dumps it in your lap takes the box away
and says now put that together we have
to take all these pieces of information
they’re being thrown at us and use them
to create a picture that makes sense
it’s a proper help and attempts to
create a solution we take 1.4 million
calls a year after 12 years on the job
that is a lot of heartache and sadness I
only hear the worst nobody calls us when
they’re having a good day
I probably should have given up hope
long ago realizing that people can be
mean and do terrible things to each
other but my job is awesome and amazing
the amount of lives that I get to touch
is just fantastic for a small moment I
get to share a sliver of their existence
with them and maybe I make a difference
maybe I’m that lifeline they needed in
their time of crisis maybe I’m able to
change their way of thinking to put them
on a better path than the one they had
previously been on every day we log into
our computers plug in our headsets and
do the best we can with the information
that we’re given so getting back to my
call I’m constantly updating my screen
to see if there’s any officers comments
on my incident and then I notice there’s
a little cop car right by where my
collar is calling from i refresh my mic
screen again and I see the officers
comments male on bridge on cell phone
we got him that’s my guy they make
contact they make sure that he’s okay
and they take him to get the help that
he needs
well I didn’t realize was the whole time
I was in the zone the rest of the room
ceased to exist it was just me and my
collar all of a sudden there is a huge
adrenaline dome and a flood of emotions
I log off my computer I throw my headset
on the desk and I be it to the ladies
room I’m angry and glad frustrated and
relieved all at once these emotions need
to outlet and I cry for the first time
at work that was seven years ago we have
to work on a wing and a prayer just
think if they had passed him earlier
they wouldn’t have known it was him as
we had no description to go on if they
had found him later it would be too late
and he would be dead the universe
brought them all together the right
place and at the right time to save a
bottom line is we’re all human everyone
different experiences but you never know
what that person next to you is going
through day to day what realities they
may be facing long ago Plato said be
kind for everyone you meet is fighting a
so after all these years of dealing with
all sorts all manners of emergencies in
crisis the best advice I can give to you
is have empathy for those around you we
may not walk in the same footsteps as
someone else but we certainly can walk
next to them and maybe reach out and
[Applause] [Music]
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