Communications Division

Contact: Wayne Brandt 325-673-8331

The mission of the Communications Division is to provide quality service to the public safety departments, enabling these agencies to perform their duties effectively; to provide requested and quality services to the citizens in a timely and courteous manner; to maintain high standards of professionalism."

The Communications Division is an essential link between the public and emergency assistance. Emergency and non-emergency calls for assistance are received through 'Enhanced 9-1-1' (E9-1-1), police and fire non-emergency phone lines. Hearing impaired callers are assisted through the TDD phone line and requests for air ambulance response are received on a First*Flight line.

The Communications Division is the lifeline of the Department. Communications operators are the link between the citizen in need and the responding personnel. Dispatchers rely key information to responding police units, provide pre-arrival medical assistance (via protocol charts), notify local ambulance service providers and fire departments. Dispatchers are also able to provide reassurance and understanding to the citizen in need when an emergency occurs. The Communications Division is also relied upon to assist in the safety of on-scene fire and police personnel.

The Communications Division is the public safety answering point for all E9-1-1 calls in Taylor County, Texas, with primary service to the Abilene Police and Fire Departments. The division has the responsibility of being the first level of response when an emergency occurs in our response area. Additionally, Communications is responsible for proper routing and referral of calls to which Abilene Police and Fire Departments do not respond. The Division dispatches all emergency and non-emergency request for service for the Abilene Police and Fire Departments, as well as the Tye and Potosi volunteer fire departments. In November 1996 the division acquired dispatch responsibilities for First*Flight helicopter located at Hendrick Medical Center.

Staffing of the Communications Division consists of thirty-one authorized positions including twenty-six communicator (dispatch) positions, five first line supervisors and one division director. All personnel in the Communications Division are civilian. The re-classification of the division director from uniform to civilian was completed in 1994, this makes the Communications Division the first division within the Abilene Police Department to utilize full civilian staffing.

New communicators (dispatchers) are trained in a four-phase six month in-house training program. The training begins with call taking and moves on to fire and First*Flight dispatching and is completed with police dispatching. Training is conducted by Civilian instructors who are TCLEOSE trained. Training topics include, but are not limited to geography, telephone and radio procedures, CPR, job related terminology, and use of numerous in-house and statewide computer systems.