NINE - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Morrow County Dispatchers work behind the scenes
-Continued from PAGE ONE
year and can be fulfilled by
any training that is relevant
to work as a dispatcher.
That training can also be
either in-house or in various
locations in Oregon, Wash-
ington or Idaho—the other
two states share training
standards with Oregon.
On top of that is an-
other four hours of train-
ing in Emergency Medical
Dispatch, which teaches
dispatchers to give medical
instructions over the phone,
such as guiding a caller
through CPR.
Baker says some peo-
ple don’t last very long,
but that’s okay. It’s best to
figure it out early, she says.
“There’s so much in-
Andrea Acosta-Garcia
A friend kept telling
her she would be a good
911 dispatcher and urged
her to apply when a posi-
tion opened at MCSO. She
decided to apply to appease
her friend.
“I got myself into
something I had no clue
about,” says Acosta-Garcia.
Along with six monitors at each station, four larger wall
monitors help all of the dispatchers, and any other law en-
forcement in the room, share information and keep track of
current situations. - Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
volved in the job,” Baker
says. “This is a serious job.
There are lives at stake.”
Acosta-Garcia says be-
ing a 911 dispatcher wasn’t
in her plans, either. Born
in Hermiston and raised
in Umatilla, she also took
classes at BMCC, though
with the goal of becoming a
physician’s assistant. Then
she got married and had her
first child, and her plans
changed. She decided to put
her education plans on hold
and focus on her family.
She worked in security for
Amazon, first doing rounds
and then in the control cen-
ter, monitoring cameras and
doing investigations.
She didn’t think she
really had a shot. She was
only 20, for one thing. Still,
she applied and went in for
interviews and testing.
“There were a lot of
people in the same room
who looked really smart,”
she recalls. “I didn’t think
I would be the chosen one.”
But she was. She turned
21 the day of her interview.
Dispatch, by its nature,
operates 24/7. Each dis-
patcher works four 10-hour
shifts every week. Those
include a 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
day shift, 4 p.m. to 2 p.m.
swing shift, 12-10 p.m. mid
shift and 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
graveyard shift.
The shifts rotate ev-
ery three months on a ro-
tating shift bid. Shift bid
means they rotate through
dispatchers so everyone
has a chance to pick their
shift (and get weekends
off) regardless of seniority.
Baker currently works the
weekday day shift, while
Acosta-Garcia works week-
day swing, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.
There are 10 dispatcher
positions, but right now
MCSO is down three, so the
seven dispatchers do a lot of
shift trading to balance their
lives and the demands of the
job, Baker says.
“We just kind of back
each other up,” she says.
The number of dis-
patchers on a shift depends
on the shift. On a weekend
swing shift, they like to
have two or three dispatch-
ers working. During the
week, there is usually only
one, though that’s due to
staffing issues. If they were
fully staffed, Baker says,
they would almost always
have two on a shift.
There were three work-
ing that Friday night—
Acosta-Garcia, Marcy Wal-
ton and Jessica Trujillo,
plus Baker, who stopped by
to check in. There wasn’t
much action early in the
evening. In between provid-
ing deputies with informa-
tion on arrest warrants and
addresses, the four caught
up on paperwork and talked
shop.
“We do a ton of paper-
work,” says Baker. That
paperwork includes war-
rants, restraining orders
and stalking orders, to name
a few. Communications
deputies manage not one,
but four 911 lines, as well
as 10 business lines and
radio traffic from countless
frequencies. “There’s a lot
more to it than just answer-
ing the phone.”
During a down mo-
ment, Baker asked the oth-
ers if they had received any
911 texts. The ability to text
Sarah Baker
911 is fairly new, but, Wal-
ton said she had received a
couple, though they turned
out not to be urgent.
“I think the text 911
is a good thing in this day
and age, especially with
kids,” says Baker. “I think
it’s easier for them knowing
they can text.”
“I feel like the text
911 is more when you’re
trying to be discreet,”
Acosta-Garcia added. She
then shared a success sto-
ry about using a new app
called what3words. The
app assigns a unique com-
bination of three words to
every three-meter square
on earth. Acosta-Garcia
used it when she received
a 911 from a family stuck
in the snow.
It was storming, and
the family was lost.
“I had an idea where
they were, but I didn’t
know exactly where they
were,” says Acosta-Garcia.
Fortunately, the family
had cell phone reception, so
Acosta-Garcia asked them
to download the app and
give her the three words for
their location.
“And it worked,” she
says. “I was like, ‘Found
you!’”
Each dispatcher gets
his or her own equipment,
which includes a headset
and keyboard. Each station
has a bank of six computer
monitors, as well as phones
and radios.
When a dispatcher gets
to work, she first gets her
equipment and plugs it
Making plans for new circuit court building
-Continued from PAGE ONE building cost but would, things like a sally port so house. We have the fund-
appropriate money from
the state’s general fund to
the Judicial Department for
certain expenses, including
county courthouse repairs
and replacements through-
out the state. The bill would
provide a 50 percent match
up to six million dollars,
and Morrow County is
asking for the full six mil-
lion. Sykes and Morrow
County Finance Director
Kevin Ince said financing
is available in the county’s
budget to meet the senate
bill match assuming it rolls
out in the upcoming fiscal
year.
“So it’s all coming to a
head, and it’s coming to a
head soon,” said Sykes at
the March 1 meeting.
The county is currently
looking to build the new cir-
cuit court building in Hep-
pner. The City of Heppner
gave the county a list of
nine sites, which the county
has narrowed to three or
four possibilities. Sykes
requested having the DLR
Group team come in and
look at those and give the
county an analysis on which
one they think is most do-
able and best financially.
DLR was the firm that
assessed the current court-
house and determined it
was not feasible to bring it
up to safety standards and
court requirements. Sykes
said he requested DLR
because they are familiar
with courthouses and with
the grant process in Salem.
He said he was looking for
authorization to spend up to
$10,000 to do initial anal-
ysis on the potential sites.
“I’m just asking for the
okay to engage them,” said
Sykes.
The request did not
approve a specific site or
Sykes said, move the proj-
ect forward. Drago asked
if they would hold a public
hearing on the options, but
Sykes replied that he felt
they should look at DLR’s
recommendations and the
commission should make a
decision from there. Nelson
added that they had to keep
in mind that the circuit court
also had a say in the final
selection.
Wenholz agreed.
“The circuit court ac-
tually has a pretty good say
on what the building is and
location and everything,
because it is state dollars,”
he said.
Sykes said he had been
talking with Judge Hill
quite a bit.
“And he’s tuned in to
how much say the court
has. They have the final say
where it goes,” said Sykes,
“so we’re trying to look at
sites that will meet as close
as we can to what they
want. Then it comes down
to economics.”
Nelson said he also
wanted to clarify for the
sake of the public that the
current courthouse would
not be torn down or changed
but that a new space is
needed.
“When we think about
the spacing issue, we think
to the future,” said Nelson.
“Right now we’ve built the
new Bartholomew Build-
ing. It’s pretty full already.
You think about 10 years
down the road, where do
we expand?”
“You’re talking about
spaces that could open up
for other departments to
utilize. There’s a benefit to
that,” added Nelson.
Sykes and Nelson both
pointed to the need for
the jurors couldn’t see a de-
fendant being brought in in
handcuffs, which would be
cause for mistrial. Nelson
said they had been lucky so
far in that there had been no
mistrial.
At the March 9 meet-
ing in Salem, Judge Hill
addressed the committee
to show his support for
both a new Morrow Coun-
ty Circuit Court building
and repairs to the Umatil-
la County Courthouse in
Pendleton. Hill stressed
that both projects would
benefit the citizens of their
respective counties.
“Beautiful. Beautiful
facility, which is no longer
remotely suitable,” Hill
said of the Morrow County
Courthouse, which was
built in 1902. He told the
subcommittee that there are
no assembly areas for juries
and that the court actually
has jurors come in from
the Bartholomew Building
next door “through what-
ever weather it might be”
to assemble a jury. “It’s a
tiny, tiny quaint courthouse.
It simply needs to be re-
placed,” he said.
“I’m not going to be-
labor the subject. We need
two facilities, and really
appreciate your support,”
Hill concluded.
“It’s very important
for our county that we get
a new circuit court built,”
Sykes told the subcommit-
tee. “Our courthouse is old.
It’s elegant and historical,
but it is old.”
Sykes mentioned is-
sues such as no auditory or
visual privacy and lack of
security.
“All three commission-
ers voted unanimously to
support this new court-
ing, we’ve talked over our
finances, we’re ready to go
on this. We have some sites
picked out,” said Sykes.
“Now is the time to do it.”
“The courthouse, as
you’ve heard, it is beauti-
ful,” Nelson said in his ad-
dress to the subcommittee.
He recounted how residents
of Heppner had stayed in-
side the courthouse during
the town’s recovery after
the Heppner flood. “This
courthouse is about the
same as it was then.”
Nelson said the court-
room is historic and re-
minds people of something
in movie but that, while
beautiful, it is “not work-
able for current jury trials.”
Some of the issues, he said,
were technology and jury
space.
“When there’s a jury
room right next to us, and
we have the jury go out for
attorneys to argue legal is-
sues, the jurors can hear the
courtroom,” Nelson said.
“We have to play a white
noise or some country mu-
sic or something in the jury
room, and I’m not joking
about that. That is true, to
block out the sounds, so
they can’t hear us talk about
things they’re not supposed
to hear.
“That is an issue for
appeal. That is an issue
for justice,” said Nelson.
“And these cases can get
overturned.”
Nelson ended by say-
ing that the Morrow County
Courthouse in Heppner
worked well for its time,
but not anymore.
“Times have changed,
and now this courthouse
must change,” concluded
Nelson. “We are ready. We
just need that support.”
in, and then logs into the
system. The dispatcher go-
ing off duty then gives a
full briefing on everything
that’s been going on, in-
cluding pending calls or
calls units are on currently.
“That way, when the
next radio call comes in,
when the next phone call
comes in, they know what’s
going on,” says Baker.
At the heart of their
system is a program called
Computer Aided Dispatch,
or CAD. Most 911 dis-
patch centers have some
version of CAD, Baker
says. When a call comes
in, the dispatcher takes the
information and enters it
into the CAD system. It’s
the records management
system, but it also tracks
the position and availability
of response units within
MCSO territory.
Their area covers all of
Morrow County. They used
to dispatch for Gilliam,
Sherman and Wheeler, as
well, but Frontier Dispatch
now covers those counties
in its territory.
Some nights are laid
back and relaxed. Patrol
deputies or parole and pro-
bation deputies might stop
by to ask for information
or stay for a few minutes
to join in the conversation.
This night in particular, a
deputy new to the Heppner
patrol wandered in to ask
where Balm Fork Road
is—and possibly how she
was supposed to find the
road without a road sign.
The dispatchers
launched into an explana-
tion of several area roads,
trying to help the newcomer
get her bearings.
“I feel like a lot of peo-
ple think 911 dispatchers
are far away from where
you’re located,” observes
Acosta-Garcia. “Your 911
dispatchers are local, and
they know your area.”
However, they never
know when that one call
will come in.
“I’ve kind of seen it all.
I’ve gone through officer
involved shootings. I’ve
been through bomb threats.
I’ve had CPR go great and
I’ve had CPR go wrong.
I’ve kind of been through
everything,” Baker says.
She says they tend to
develop what she calls a
dark sense of humor in their
field.
“That is how we cope.
We have to find humor in
something,” says Baker.
“It’s how people deal with
the stress of everyday life
and of your job, if you have
a stressful job. Not every-
one understands it.”
“For me, the ones that
stand out the most are the
traumatic ones, because you
just keep thinking about it,”
says Acosta-Garcia. For
instance, she says, if she
has to dispatch responders
to a house where there was
a suicide and later drives
by that house, she remem-
bers. “If there was a terrible
wreck on the interstate,
when I drive on the inter-
state, I’ll remember.”
Baker says it can be a
very stressful job, depend-
ing on the call.
“There’s always going
to be a call that’s stressful,
that rubs you the wrong way
or gets under your skin,”
Baker adds. “Not every call,
but that one call.”
“When things happen,
you just go into training
mode and you get the job
done,” she says.
“It depends on the day,
sometimes even the time of
year. Some days it might be
the Q word,” Acosta-Garcia
laughs, adding that they
don’t like to say “quiet”
because it might jinx it.
“Some days from the time
you put your foot on the
pedal… When you get a
moment’s break, you take
a deep breath and keep
going.”
Neighborhood Center
bag sale Friday
The Neighborhood Center is having a bag sale on
Friday, March 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 441 N
Main Street, Heppner.
The first bag purchased is $15, while a second bag
is a discounted price of $5. Bags can be filled with items
for the entire family—clothing, shoes, books, games,
music and movies. All other household merchandise is
50 percent off that day only.
Proceeds from the sale help fund the food pantry and
other emergency assistance programs.
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