The
Butler County Sheriff’s Office Communications
Division is staffed 24
hours a day; 7 days a week; 365 days a year, with professional dispatchers who
are dedicated and trained to handle life-threatening emergencies as well as all
non-emergency calls that are received in the dispatch center. The Sheriff
currently has staffing levels at 15 full-time dispatchers to assist the
residents of Butler County, should they find it necessary to contact the
Sheriff’s Office for any emergency or non-emergency assistance.
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers take calls and dispatch for the Sheriff’s Deputies, as well as five (5) Police agencies, eleven (11) Life Squads and eighteen (18) Fire Stations located in Butler County.
Dispatchers
are also responsible for contacting road crews throughout the County to notify
them of road conditions in bad weather or for a repair, calling electric and
phone companies for damaged poles or to turn off service at the residence due to
a fire and most importantly, maintaining radio contact with all of the Officers
or emergency personnel on the scene of an incident. Dispatchers are the
“life-line” to the Officers and the Emergency Services workers on the street.
The
Communications Center is where the Meterologix Weather Radar receiver can be
found at the Sheriff’s Office. The radar updates every 5 minutes onto 2
monitors mounted in the center for the dispatchers to monitor. This weather
radar has been a valuable asset in times of inclement weather allowing the
dispatchers to notify the Sheriff and on-duty Road Patrol Supervisors in a
timely manner so that appropriate action can be taken by the department.
The Communications Center is also the home to the County EAS (Emergency Activation System) so the dispatchers can connect directly with the local news media in times of emergency, as in the case of an Amber Alert or hazardous Materials spill, that can affect residents within Butler County.
The
dispatchers have the responsibility of the Ohio LEADS (Law Enforcement Automated
Data System) to provide immediate response to Officer’s requests for driver’s
license or car license information and checking to make sure the suspect is not
wanted by any other department. The dispatchers also enter stolen items,
vehicles, license plates, missing persons, wanted persons, domestic violence
orders, protection orders, etc. in the system every day. This multi-tasking job
is not an easy job and takes a dedicated person to remain in Communications.
