My
Prayer For My Officers
Dedicated
to:
All
Officers with Columbia Police Department
and
All
Deputies with the Richland County Sheriffs Department
From:
Your Dispatcher
Dear
God,
Please
watch over our Officers/Deputies as they begin their shift.
Lord,
I
pray
that you will keep them safe from harm, so they may go home each
night
to
their families. Help me to hear them because Lord, I know this one
transmission
may be the only one they can give me. I ask that you give
me
the
strength to remain calm during stressful calls, the ability to be
multi-tasked,
the knowledge of to know where they are at all times,
and
patience
to not take anything personal they may say to or about me.
Lord,
these
guys are my heart and they are just trying to earn a living by
doing
what
most people would NEVER do and that is the job of a police
officer,
So
God
If you could somehow let them know I care about them , I do my best to
to
know
where they are at all times and that everyday before I get out of
bed
I
say
a special prayer for them. Lord, Please watch over them and keep
them
safe
because they are very special men and women.. Amen
Jane
Rodriguez
Columbia
South Carolina
LtsWyfe@aol.com
Copyright
2000
May
use with permission from author
"Do
You Know Me?"
Do
you know me? Sure you do. I'm just a dispatcher! You know the one. The
one that you talk about, the one you hate.
I'm
the one who always screws up the calls you go on, do you think I enjoy
giving you incorrect information. Did you stop and think maybe the caller
gave me the information wrong?
I'm
the "stupid" one because I cannot hear you with your siren blaring in the
background, a child on the screaming into the phone that daddy is beating
up mommy, a hysterical parent whose child is on drugs or because you may
just have your music up to loud and I have to ask you to repeat something.
I am the one who must maintain a calm voice when inside I am feeling sick
because of a hot call you are on. Trying to make out what you are saying
when you are running and the adrenaline is pumping.
I
am the one who understands when you reply with a smart remark or sarcasm,
knowing you have a stressful job. Remember I too have a stressful job.
I'm the one who, when you get in a foot chase, fight, traffic stop, domestic,
person with a gun or any other call , worries and am out of my seat until
I hear 3 words. Central, Under Control.
I'm
the one you think is Rude but you as I do must remember that even though
we are not out on that call, I sometimes feel helpless not knowing what
is happening with you because of radio silence due to a hot call. So I
too get stressed out.
I
am the one who gets to listen to my voice on the tape when you think I
am being rude or didn't handle a call right. Have you ever listened to
yourself? I am the one with the heart that skips a beat when you are on
a traffic stop and cannot be raised on the radio.
I
am the one who panics when you scream for help but I don't know where you
are because YOU forgot to sign out.
I
am the one who is spoken to in a hateful tone because I try to send you
on a call but YOU forgot to sign out somewhere.
I'm
the one who has to guess if you had time to finish a call because YOU forgot
to sign back on.
Yes,
I am all these things to you but remember
I
am the one who feels ultimately responsible for you and have the greatest
respect and concern for Law Enforcement Officers or I would not be doing
this job.
I
am the one who prays that each one of you goes home to your families at
the end of your shift!
Do
you know me? I hope now not only do you know me but understand me and see
me in a different light!!
Jane
South
Carolina
Used
with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright
© 1999 - All Rights Reserved
and
may not be duplicated without permission
Another
morning has approached
as
I think of my officer again.
One
of the many officers that swore
to
serve and to protect,
and
gave up his life in the very end.
That
fateful day is something that
I
am not allowed to forget.
It
is that memory that reappears
each
time I put on my headset.
And
when I sit in front of the radio
and
dispatch my officers to a priority call,
I
silently hope and pray
that
I hear them clear,
instead
of hearing them take the fall.
You
see, I have always read their voices
and
sent back up when I sensed tension or fear.
But
now, more than ever, it is their voice
I
want to continue to hear.
Taking
for granted that you will hear
an
officer do another traffic stop,
just
should not be done.
For
it does not matter how routine
the
stop or call may be,
it
only takes one.
When
one of our brothers or sisters
is
lost in the field,
the
briefing room will then be left
with
an empty space.
And
in our hearts it is perceived,
that
this brother or sister will
never
be replaced.
It
is my solemn vow to all of my officers
to
give my very best,
and
to be the voice they want to hear
in
their worst times of distress.
It
is for my officers that
my
loyalty is firmly planted,
And
it is their voices
that
I will never again,
take
for granted.
By
Paula Ann Gomes
"Just
A Dispatcher"
I
TAKE A BREATH AS I SIT DOWN GOD,
GIVE
ME STRENGTH TO MAKE THIS ROUND
SO
MANY LIVES, I HOLD IN HAND,
SO
MANY PEOPLE WITH DEMANDS.
MY
FIRST CALL, A CHILD IS SCREAMING,
DADDY'S
BEATING MOMMY AND SHE'S NOT BREATHING.
IT'S
HARD TO DEAL WITH AND STAY CALM,
THE
CHILD YELLS, "DADDY'S GOT A GUN!"
I
HAVE TO TAKE CONTROL AND SAY
PLEASE
SLOW DOWN THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY
AS
I DISPATCH TO MY DEPUTIES,
"10-47,
THERE IS A WEAPON"
TEN
THOUSAND THINGS RUSH THROUGH MY HEAD
GOD
I PRAY SHE'S NOT DEAD.
STAY
ON THE PHONE AND TALK TO ME,
AS
I RISE TO MY FEET.
THE
COPS ARE HERE THE CHILD IS SAYING,
STAY
ON THE LINE AS I START PRAYING.
"BE
ADVISED HE HAS A GUN,
AND
HE ALSO HAS HIS SON".
NOW
I HAVE AN OPEN LINE,
JUST
A DISPATCHER IN THE BLIND
"DISPATCH",
I HEARD HIM SAY,
"HIS
NAME IS TEDDY AND HE'S OKAY"
THEY
CLEAR THE SCENE FROM THE CALL,
NOT
ONE DEPUTY HAD TO FALL.
I
TAKE A BREATH AS I SIT DOWN,
THANK
YOU GOD, WE MADE THAT ROUND.
I'M
JUST A DISPATCHER, CAN'T YOU SEE
JUST
A LIFELINE BETWEEN YOU AND ME.
WRITTEN
BY:
Donna
Lindsey
Dispatcher,
Marshall County Sheriff's Office
May
21, 1999
A
Dispatcher's Prayer
O
Lord they call us Dispatchers
Lord
help the Dispatcher
We
need Your guiding hand
We
need Your wisdom O Lord
We
gather up the traffic from all around,
from
the terror to the trivial
We
hear it all
from
the cries of pain to the verbal abuse,
we
get it all.
Lord,
there is pain in my heart
and
a knot in my stomach.
There
is a fire call, "Life inside!"
An
EMS call, "Baby not breathing!"
and
crank call with language so foul
Thank
God for Enhanced 911.
Lord,
help my mind to hold all this confusion,
help
me sort it out
keep
me form being distracted.
O
Lord, give me the strength to be precise,
the
strength to speak with clarity
Lord,
help me to protect and serve
from
my unseen vantage point.
Keep
this chair from becoming too comfortable.
Protect
me form the pain and anger around me,
lest
it overtake me and become part of me.
Lord,
thank You for allowing me to hold this trust
that
you have given to me.
Thank
You for the chance to serve Your people
in
this community.
Amen