TELECOMMUNICATORS OBSERVE SPECIAL WEEK

Thanks to the television show "Rescue 911," the public is better educated about what tele-communicators do, says Kim Amelunke, a telecommunicator at the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

On the other hand, according to Amelunke, there are people who dial 911 and expect to get an operator, thinking instead they dialed 411 for information. The numbers 911 can be dialed in Cape Girardeau, as in many places, for emergency service.

Amelunke and other tele-communicators across the nation are being honored with "National Public Safety Telecommunicators' Week." The observance, signed into law by President George Bush on March 26, began Monday and continues until Saturday.

Amelunke said she thinks "Rescue 911," a television show that features re-enactments of emergency rescues, helps people to understand what is involved in the job of a telecommunicator, also commonly referred to as a dispatcher.

"I don't think they realize everything that goes on in this room," Amelunke said while standing in the Cape Girardeau Police Department's communications booth. The booth teems with electronic equipment, including black-and-white monitors that help to maintain the police department's security.

A short time earlier Amelunke, speaking into a microphone, recorded a warning for businesses to look out for stolen checks and credit cards. The information is relayed to businesses via telephone by an automatic dialer.

Juanita Henley, the police department's administrative services supervisor, said the department's telecommunicators monitor about 225 burglar and fire alarms across the city. They field calls for private monitoring companies, the city fire department, and ambulances, dispatching services for each when needed, said Henley.

The job also involves entering wanted and missing persons and stolen vehicles and articles on the Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, or inquiring about them.

She said the television show has affected calls received by the Cape Girardeau police department in that many callers expect the telecommunicators to know their location.

"There have been people who have made those statements: `You know where I am. You have the equipment there that tells you.'

"I think it's great that the public has become educated in that regard, but that's for Cape Girardeau's future," Henley said. "Until the enhanced 911 system is installed we won't be able to know that location, so they should speak distinctly and let us know where they are."

Henley was referring to Cape Girardeau County's planned 911 system, approved by voters in November. At the latest, the system must be ready two years after voter approval.

The police department has 10 telecommunicators who work two to a shift. Their shifts run one hour later than the police officers', allowing for information to "remain fluid" between the police officers' shifts, Henley said.

This is the first year, Henley said, that the president has proclaimed "National Public Safety Telecommunicators' Week." Legislation to establish the week has gotten though the House of Representatives before, she said, but has died before total approval.

Approval came this year following a five-year effort by Associated Public Safety Communications Officers Inc. to establish the observance, she said.

Henley encouraged people to use the department's 911 service. But she said she didn't want to distinguish between emergency and non-emergency situations.

"It's a matter of interpretation. We just encourage people to use it for emergencies. You know you don't call in a barking dog on 911."