CAPE POLICE DISPATCHER WINS REGIONAL AWARDS FROM PEERS

Amid the recent hirings, transfers and promotions at the Cape Girardeau Police Department, dispatcher Ken Bullard quietly moved into the limelight.

About three weeks ago, he and Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. received discreet letters, advising them that Bullard had been named the regional Telecommunicator of the Year by an international organization of dispatchers and police communicators.

He also won an award for his outstanding performance in a critical incident.

Bullard was nominated for the Association of Public-safety Communications Officials International (APCO) awards by three people he had trained in the communications center of the police department.

All three felt his recognition by the organization was long overdue.

On the application his co-workers submitted to the organization, they wrote: "Competence, leadership and professional growth is always displayed by Ken, but also, it is shared with those that he works with each day to help make our profession rewarding. Ken is an asset not only to the department, but to the community for which he provides this service."

Bullard was also nominated for his handling of an incident Nov. 18, 1993, which led to the arrest of a California man wanted in several states for several violations.

In the same fashion of handling frantic callers on the department's emergency lines, Bullard accepted news of the awards in stride.

"I was surprised, but the reason I was is because the awards usually go to people in the St. Louis area, who are also part of this region," said Bullard. "The fact that I got both awards this year was unusual, too. I guess we're kind of putting Cape Girardeau on the map."

Bullard said that the shift of attention to Cape Girardeau proves that there is real-life drama, as seen on television rescue shows, happening in our own back yards.

"People will watch shows like `Cops' or `Rescue 911' and don't really realize that on their home turf there are people doing this same job," he said. "To be recognized like this shines a light on every (dispatcher) in the department, not just me."

Bullard began his career working as a marine mobile operator for a phone company in St. Louis. In 1980, he took a job as a dispatcher for the Cape County Sheriff's Department. Four years later, he began his career at the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"(Dispatching) is a challenging job that takes patience, persistence, and you must constantly be investigative -- whether it be on the telephone or in searching for records on the computers," he said. "Sometimes you even have to know that someone has a problem before it occurs."

The call that resulted in Bullard's award for the outstanding performance in a critical incident demanded much of the veteran dispatcher.

A local fraternity called the police department on Nov. 18 to report a suspicious man that had been hanging around. The man identified himself as a Hollywood, Calif. actor, and then asked fraternity members to put him up for the night.

After a great deal of checking and keyboarding, Bullard found the car the man had been driving was reported stolen. After the man was in police custody, he began giving officers a number of names and dates of birth, trying to throw investigators off the trail.

Meanwhile, Bullard matched the man's description to a parole offender from California, who was wanted for a barrage of violations in other states.

In their application to the contest, his co-workers wrote: "Bullard's initiative, determination and knowledge in this matter is an example of the continuous efforts to provide pertinent and detailed information to both field officers and other agencies to assist in providing the necessary leads in clearing such cases that might otherwise remain unsolved."

But Bullard maintains the work he did that night was all in the line of duty.

"The biggest reward is knowing what you do is saving someone's life or property, and that you are playing a vital role in that," he said. "Public safety is very important to me. I strive to be exemplary."