Fall

It seems as the temperatures start to change, so do attitudes among co-workers.  Its almost like the cooler weather triggers animosity.  The simplest of things can trigger someone.  Lately things have been kind of that way anyways.  We were in the process of training one new dispatcher, and he was not quite up to par, and it seemed like everything resulted in a review of how he was handling things, from trying to field calls himself, to just down right ignoring important details from callers.  Then at at some point he decided to quit, as we were just barely ready to release the trainee who was hired before him.   So now we are short staffed again, as such as been the norm for about the last 2 years off and on.  I don't think administration has anything to do with it. Eh, well I actually do.   The past year we have seen a major shakeup.  We saw not only a change of leadership in the agency, we also experienced changes of leadership of elected government officials.  This new leadership is somewhat indecisive on how and when to handle issues or concerns.  They often panic about lawsuits for doing something, yet forget that if you don't handle certain situations when they come up and allow them to fester they will be bigger problems as they are patterns you ignore.   But I'm not management and they rarely ask me or even come to me with concerns or questions.  They are willing to trust new employees at face value without background checks or even google searches.  They hire based on "experience" and didn't realize that prior experience was only a few months, of really nothing.  Our agency is unique in that we only train a person 2-3 months in dispatch before they are released to be on their own, because they hate paying 2 people for the same hours.  We are a small agency, but we stay steady some shifts.  The people that come here to hire on really think we vacation all year long, that we never handle real situations.  Heck, even a few of the officers think we have nothing better to do than to cater to their every need.  Off the tangent here, but so this rookie has manipulated management into thinking they are the golden child, and that all the big kids are picking on them.  Now I will say my approach has been on of a shoulder to lean on, and someone to come to for support.  But when you are coming to me for the same issues over and over, you are not picking up the answers you keep asking for.  Then I found out that they are shopping around, one time they contact the supervisor, another time they contact one of the officers who is a former dispatcher, then another time they contact myself or another dispatcher.  Sometimes your open book tests, won't get you through life.  This person I think has family life issues, and it shows.  They are timid, and quick to blame failures on others.  They always ignore their own failures.   I really hope that they stick it out, and don't throw in the towel just because they cannot get along with a few folks.  I would regret and think they would too, quitting over someone else's attitude.  The best thing in life you can do is to hold your head up, show up to work and do your job and at the end of day knowing you did your best against the odds, and to prove to them they were wrong.   But I think they already have their foot out the door, looking for other places to go.  I think this is just a stepping stone, too often people are hired for dispatch with the understanding that they could get to the agency and then be a step ahead for an officer position. 

Lately, this one officer has been burning a lot of bridges, he's a rookie who insists he cannot sit still.  He started off doing things that most officers wouldn't, without backup.  He has the fearless mentality when you are around him.  Then when it comes down to the hairy situations, his voice gets to breaking up, and he is quick to ask for someone to back him up.  I find it amusing.  Tonight he was quick to come up and complain to dispatch that it was taking too long for the transport to the jail to show up.  I wanted to say that is just part of the job, you can't be out there running 100's of plates a shift, to only stop a few and give them warnings.  You have to accept that at times other agencies are busy, and you won't have backup.  You have to accept that you do some strangely suspicious things, like asking a dispatcher what your policies are on certain things.  You and another rookie officer do something which is clearly against policy, and you still find reason behind it, and try to justify it, and are sort of in trouble, yet never disciplined.  Then you continue to go back to that same style of shoot from the hip.  I really got along well with this officer for a while, but lately his cockiness has rubbed me wrong.  Maybe I just am tarnished, this is not one of the regular officers I am used to working with, this is not my officers, he is does things not typical, his methods are not like the others. 

Aw well here I am a complaining dispatcher now.....