Professional Standards 1Professional Ethical StandardsIntroduction Each year more than 240 million callers attempt to receive emergency services (Dispatch Magazine On-Line, 2008). Who handles all of these phone calls? Communications centers that field 911 phone calls are staffed with trained 911 operators, also called communication officers in some areas. These men and women answer calls daily from victims of crime, individuals seeking emergencyProfessional Standards 2medical or fire services, concerned community members, and on rare occasions, the criminals themselves. Answering the calls and prioritizing them for law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians (EMT), and fire departments requires knowledge, patience, discretion, and ethics. The Job According to Eastside Regional Communications Center (2008), 911 dispatchers answer phones for both emergency and non-emergency calls for not only law enforcement but medical and fire services as well. These individuals work with computer-aided dispatching services as well as computerized phone and radio systems. Dispatch Magazine On-Line also states that these individuals must prioritize these calls when numerous phone calls come into the center at the same time. Dispatchers also complete clerical work, retrieve information for callers using various computer systems, monitor radio frequencies, and relay pertinent information between officers and callers. This list of duties is not exhaustive; dispatchers may be asked to complete a task that is normally not assigned to them due to lack of other staff, budget cuts, and never-before-dealt-with situations. Individuals who are looking to pursue a career in dispatching need to be calm, confident, knowledgeable, patient, and must have high morals.A Day in the LifeNo two days are the same for an individual who works in a communications center fielding 911calls. Each day, these professionals deal with a variety of calls from a variety of callers seeking a variety of services. A dispatcher may arrive at work and be answering a phone within seconds of arrival; they may also go all evening without picking up a phone, especially if the dispatcher is workingin a small community. If two dispatchers are asked what they did yesterday, they will inevitably answer with two different stories.In a recent interview, Karla Schwartz from the Fulton County Sherriff’s Department stated that the night prior to the interview she fielded calls from several motorists who had difficulty navigating the slippery Atlanta highways (due to an earlier downpour of rain) and ended up in ditches. Mrs.Professional Standards 3Schwartz also calmed a mother who believed her child was missing. Karla’s job during this time was toget as much information about the child as possible while keeping the mother calm and dispatching officers to the area. Those individuals who cannot multi-task have no business in dispatching. Karla also stated that the prior night had been relatively quiet. She finished the evening by filling out paperwork and taking a few non-emergency phone calls from citizens who requested permission to parkon the street, something that is not usually allowed in the county. Karla wrapped up her interview with a discussion about ethics.Code of EthicsKarla said that this position can put individuals into situations where their ethics and morals will be questioned. “Having strong ethics and high moral standards will help guide an individual.” Theprofessions Code of Ethics will also help to lead individuals down the most ethical path. Communications officers follow the same code of ethics as law enforcement officers although Oregon, Illinois, and Idaho have a separate code specifically for public safety dispatchers (Dispatch Magazine On-Line, 2008). These separate codes do not vary much from the law enforcement Code; they condense what is written and eliminate law-enforcement-specific language and duties. The National Academy of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) is a non-profit agency that sets high standards for safe and effective service from dispatch workers (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, 2009). The NAED has created their own Code of Ethics they believe every dispatch officer should adhere to. The NAED’s Code mirrors the ethical standards set forth in the law enforcement Code, but also includes job-specific standards such as improving the knowledge the public has of dispatch employees and enhancing and improving the dispatch system (National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, 2009).Situations can arise of work that question an employee’s ethics and can tarnish the reputation ofthe agency for which they work; it is for this reason that the Code of Ethics includes ethical standards for behavior outside of work as well, an inclusion that is unique to the profession. According to AbuseProfessional Standards 4of Power (2008), the Code states that employees should keep their private lives private, serving as role models to society. Dispatching professionals are also asked to keep sensitive information confidential, serve and protect the community in which they serve, act in an unbiased manner, and be examples of how to uphold the law (Abuse of Power, 2008).Departments and agencies that hire dispatchers have new employees sign a copy of the Code of Ethics the employee must adhere to, and some agencies require that a dispatcher is sworn in using the Code. Having employees sign a printed copy of the Code protects the department from legal action should an employee be fired for unethical behavior. The Code that a dispatcher adhere to does give guidelines for behavior, but does not state specific protocols for handling ethical situations that may occur. Real Life SituationsA dispatcher recounted a story that involved another in a neighboring county; the dispatcher was reprimanded for not relaying information to officers from females who called the county’s non-emergency number. This woman had attempted to have relationships with several officers in the community. When this woman was rejected by the officers, she retaliated by not relaying messages to them. Phone calls came into the center from victims wanting information about their cases as well as individuals seeking information on their legal rights. The unethical behavior was discovered when a victim scheduled a meeting with the Sherriff after she attempted to contact an officer several times to no avail.