(FRANKFORT, Ky.)— Ten Kentucky State Police Telecommunicators from throughout the commonwealth were recognized at graduation ceremonies for the sixth class of the agency’s in-house Telecommunications academy.
The Kentucky State Police Telecommunications Academy Class No. 6 graduated on May 22nd 2015. The group included (left to right) Andrew Rose, Post 6; Michelle Baker, Post 3; Tracy Maddox, Post 2; Mathew Hall, Post 9; Whitney Lyell, Post 5; Johnny Johnson, Post 9; Samantha Morgan, Post 3; Dan Buselmeier, Jr., Post 3; Rebecca Randolph, Post 9 and Adrienne Collazo, Post 3. Whitney Lyell of KSP Post 5 in Campbellsburg was the class valedictorian with an overall grade point average of 99 percent.
“Across the state, KSP telecommunicators provide a lifeline to both citizens in need and officers in the field,” says KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer. “They serve as an unseen, but vital link in keeping law enforcement officers and the public safe at all times of the day or night.”
Representing five agency posts, the group began its studies on April 13th 2015 at the KSP Training Academy in Frankfort. The course provided 236 hours of instruction during a six-week period. The curriculum included subjects such as legal liability and limits of telecommunicator authority, the telecommunicator’s role in public safety, interpersonal communications, customer service, interaction with the news media, stress, ethics and confidentiality, responder safety, basic fire dispatch, state emergency operations plans and criminal justice information systems, cardio pulmonary resuscitation, first aid training, emergency medical dispatch and special needs callers.
The final week of the academy included training on computer-aided dispatch and other databases. To complete the course, the telecommunicators were required to successfully process scripted calls for service and demonstrate proficiency in obtaining pertinent information, dispatching responders, providing emergency medical dispatch if needed and correctly documenting information from the call for service.
The graduates of the sixth KSP Telecommunications Academy included:
Tracy Maddox, Post 2 Madisonville
Dan Buselmeier, Jr., Post 3 Bowling Green
Michelle Baker, Post 3 Bowling Green
Samantha Morgan, Post 3 Bowling Green
Adrienne Collazo, Post 3 Bowling Green
Whitney Lyell, Post 5 Campbellsburg
Andrew Rose, Post 6 Dry Ridge
Rebecca Randolph, Post 9 Pikeville
Mathew Hall, Post 9 Pikeville
Johnny Johnson, Post 9 Pikeville
Whitney Lyell of KSP Post 5 in Campbellsburg was the class valedictorian with an overall grade point average of 99 percent.
According to Jason Long, Law Enforcement Training Instructor at the Kentucky State Police Academy, working in today’s emergency services communications center requires a number of qualities and characteristics that are absolutely imperative including:
●the ability to handle very stressful, challenging conditions.
●flexible work schedules
●empathy in dealing with others
●the ability to learn and adapt, especially in areas of technology
His advice to those who may be considering the field as a career? “You need to think hard about whether you are willing to make the sacrifices you have to make. You have to spend time away from your family. You have to work weekends and holidays. With all the continuing training required, there is a big investment of time and you need to be sure you can make the commitment.”
“To be honest, it’s not a job for everyone,” he says. “It is stressful and challenging and some people simply can’t deal with the types of calls and the types of deadly incidents that we have to handle.”
