They’re the unsung heroes whom you’ll most likely never meet, but sit ready to take your call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Law enforcement dispatchers are being recognized as part of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. At the Grass Valley CHP Office, Officer Mike Steele says he was helping put a lunch together in their honor yesterday, describing dispatchers as their lifeline…

The California Highway Patrol employs more than 700 dispatchers, statewide, who will take over 24-hundred calls over the course of a year. But the variability of calls, including 9-1-1 calls, means over 40-percent exhibit high levels of burnout, more than double the rate of employees in other fields. The CHP currently has more than 175 positions available…

Last year, the Legislature reclassified public safety dispatchers as “first responders”. It acknowledges their vital role in the state’s emergency response chain.