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Police Department - Administrative Services Bureau

Communications Section

Calls for emergency services are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by personnel in the Des Moines Police Department Communications Section. The 39 Senior Public Safety Dispatchers (dispatchers) assigned to the Communications section answer approximately 350,000 calls each year. Those 350,000 calls generate more than 222,000 trips for police, fire and emergency medical services.

Senior Public Safety Dispatchers are responsible for entering and maintaining the Des Moines Police Department’s entries into a nationwide computerized system of wanted and missing persons and stolen vehicles and property. Dispatchers also make queries into that same system for police officers throughout the Department. More than a quarter of a million transactions into this computerized system are done each year by Communications Section employees at the Des Moines Police Department.

The radio system used by dispatchers at the Des Moines Police Department consists of nine radio channels operating within the 450 MHz range. Three of those channels are shared tactical channels used by both the Des Moines Police and the Des Moines Fire Departments. One channel (LINC) was designed to achieve interoperability with other agencies in central Iowa. There are currently 65 other agencies with access to LINC, including the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa State Patrol, Des Moines Public School Security, the Department of Public Health and a number of other metro area police and fire departments.

To insure the highest level of service to the citizens of Des Moines and its emergency services personnel, Communications Section employees dedicate many hours to training and continuing education. During their first year of employment Senior Public Dispatchers are required to complete a State mandated basic telecommunicator training course and also be trained and certified to make entries into the IOWA and NCIC systems. Dispatchers are also trained and certified in Emergency Medical Dispatch.

When they receive a 9-1-1 call regarding a medical emergency, Senior Public Safety Dispatchers ask callers questions specific to the patient’s chief complaint. This helps the dispatcher determine the proper response. The information the dispatcher obtains from the caller is passed on to the responders to help them prepare to assist the patient as soon as they arrive on the scene. When necessary, Senior Public Safety Dispatchers are qualified to provide medical instructions over the telephone before the emergency responders arrive.

Senior Public Safety Dispatchers are trained to ask questions to assist you in reporting an emergency. During life-threatening emergencies, while one dispatcher is asking the caller questions another dispatcher is sending responders to the location of the emergency. When you call 9-1-1 remain calm and answer the dispatcher’s questions so they can better serve you.

Communications Section personnel have access to a number of programs to help them in their jobs, including:

• The Language Line – an over-the-telephone interpretation service – to assist with non-English speaking callers.
• Membership in A Child is Missing – a non-profit organization devoted to assisting law enforcement search for missing children, elderly, disabled persons and college students via a telephone calling system.
• Access to Code Red – an emergency notification system used to make mass emergency notifications via telephone for situations such as emergency evacuations, school lockdowns, gas leaks and hazardous materials alerts.

Communications Section personnel activate the Outdoor Warning Siren System (tornado sirens) in the City of Des Moines. Those sirens are activated only when a tornado warning has been issued for the City of Des Moines. Once activated the sirens run on a cycle of 3 minutes on and 5 minutes off for the duration of the tornado warning.

As part of it’s commitment to insure that 9-1-1 is always available, the Des Moines Police Department has developed contingency plans that include two emergency alternate sites. The primary alternate site is located at Fire Station 1 and the secondary alternate site is located at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. If the emergency communications equipment at the Des Moines Police Department were to become inoperable, or if there were a need to evacuate the building, equipment has been installed and plans are in place to move the dispatch operations to either the primary or secondary alternate site. If there is ever a need to move dispatch operations to one of the emergency alternate sites it is highly unlikely that citizens will notice a change in service. They will still be able to call 9-1-1 and the same highly trained and skilled dispatchers will answer their calls.

The dispatchers at the Des Moines Police Department are committed to public safety and many serve the public in a number of different capacities. Some are reserve police officers, others are volunteer fire fighters. Dispatchers also reach out to the public by participating in community events such as National Night Out and by providing public education through programs such as 9-1-1 for Kids.

The Communications Section has been able to obtain funding through grants from the Independent Insurance Agents of Des Moines and the Target Corporation so that dispatchers are able to provide training on when and how to call 9-1-1 to kindergarten, first and second grade students in the Des Moines area using a program called 9-1-1 for Kids. This program has been very well received by educators and children alike and gives Senior Public Safety Dispatchers an opportunity to provide children with the skills they need so should the need ever arise they will know how to call for emergency assistance.

Dispatchers at the Des Moines Police Department can be reached at the following numbers:

• 9-1-1 Police and Fire Emergency
• (515) 283-4811 Police Non-Emergency
• (515) 283-4550 Fire Non-Emergency