Podcast 2 – Jim Talks About The Shootout!

October 7, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, News, Personal, podcast , , , 1 Comment


It’s vacation time at Casa Jimmiejoe!

I talk about vacation, San Francisco, my Dad in the Air Force, and taking a 9-1-1 call in the middle of a shootout!


A podcast that dares to ask the eternal question… is anyone listening? Especially for 11 minutes and 45 seconds?

Just in case I said the wrong URL, The Trevor Project is at www.thetrevorproject.org.

Friday Night, And The Living Is…

August 20, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Humor, Personal , , , Leave a comment

It’s Friday!  Last night was quiet most of the shift, not a whole lot going on.  It will be interesting to see what happens tonight!  It’s the end of the week, the beginning of the weekend, and it’s been hot.  The perfect combination for nuttiness writ large.

This past week we’ve been dealing with a 5150.  He’s been calling numerous times, threatening us with lawsuits and dire consequences if we don’t deal with his issue.  (which involves NATIONAL SECURITY HARD DRIVES stolen from his home by other law enforcement agencies. The home he was evicted from.  Very strange)  My last interaction with him I told him we could not help him, and that if his issue involved NATIONAL SECURITY HARD DRIVES then he needed to call the FBI. He said he already called them,  and I’m sure they were less sympathetic than we’ve been.  Remember that line from MIB?  “The FBI does not have a sense of humor that we’re aware of”.   He would not stop his rant, so I finally hung up on him.  He called right back and some other dispatcher dealt with him.  He likes the women better,  and she was able to sweet talk him into calming down.

Anyway, it’s Friday night, and it’s my Friday night!  10 hours and then the weekend begins again.  I’m ready!

What’cha gonna do when they come for you?

August 7, 2010

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These don’t really happen all that often, and when they do they tend to end pretty quickly.  Not last Friday night.  We had one of those rare pursuits that lasted for almost half an hour.  Amazingly, it ended up without a crash, a blown engine, or any injuries.  That’s always a good way to end a high speed pursuit!

It started in the country outside of Earlimart.  A deputy out of the Pixley Sub-Station tried to make a stop on a vehicle, but they decided to make a run for it.  The chase was on!

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The Thursday From Hell

July 31, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal , , , , 1 Comment

A busy night in dispatch last Thursday.   Sometimes it’s slow, sometimes it’s busy, and some nights it’s just crazy batshit nuts.  Thursday was the lattermost.

A murder always sends us into a frenzy.  First, the 9-1-1 calls start flooding in, everybody within blocks grabs a cell phone and dials.  Most of them have no clue what happened, or where they are, they just scream at us to get the cops there, and why are we asking all these dumb questions??  And EVERY call has to be answered and checked, because we never know when the most important bit of information will come in, or from where.  And in the middle of the chaos, we still have to deal with the normal traffic load, because that doesn’t stop just because someone got shot!  There could be someone else needing an ambulance, or their house could be on fire, or their baby could be choking.  It all has to be handled, right now, and correctly.

Even when…

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We Get Calls

July 21, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, Humor , , , 2 Comments

Actual call last night:  woman says “I’ve lost my memory, and can’t find it”.

She wasn’t talking about computer parts.

We sent a cop.

Another Night In Paradise – more or less

July 9, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, geek, Personal , , , , Leave a comment

At work, July 8, 2010.

In the basement dispatch center, telling them where to go.  What’s YOUR emergency?

A Happy Ending

June 10, 2010

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When calling 9-1-1, many people are having their worst day ever.  Whatever is happening, from a medical problem to finding their home burglarized, it’s now pretty well ingrained in folks to call 9-1-1.  We still get calls where someone has called a friend or relative first, and they call 9-1-1, but generally speaking, we’re first on most lists.  Sometimes it’s difficult to categorize the call as a real emergency, but we’ll do the best we can.  Sometimes a call to 9-1-1 can prevent an emergency.

Tonight we got such a call, and we had a happy ending.  A caller dials up 9-1-1 and tells the operator that earlier that day they had lunch at a small cafe in one of our mountain communities.  The lady left her purse in the restaurant when they left, and did not miss it until late in the evening.  This was a case where a lost purse could have had terrible consequences.  Inside the purse was medication for the family’s young son, a 7 year old cancer victim.  If the purse and it’s medication could not be found, the family would have to immediately leave and return to southern California to acquire the proper treatment for the boy.  They were back at the cafe, but it was now late at night, and the business was closed.  At a loss for what to do, the call to 9-1-1 was placed.  While we will do our best no matter who is involved, when you tell a bunch of dispatchers (or deputies, officers, firemen, or EMTs) that a child is involved we’ll move Heaven and Earth to get the job done.

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Channel 3 Is Now Closed

June 10, 2010

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Normally, it’s just that…  “Visalia One to all units and stations, Channel Three is closed”.  Sometimes we get to play a little bit.  All unauthorized and unapproved.  But fun, anyway!

Advanced Dispatcher Training

May 12, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal , , , , Leave a comment

So for the past two days, I’ve been dragging my ass backside out of bed at 7am to attend “Advanced Dispatcher” training.  Held out at our “Training Facility” at Sequoia Field, the class starts at 8am.  As you can imagine, 8 am comes damned early to someone who is usually just entering REM sleep about that time!  15 + years of swing shift does not allow easy shifting of one’s biological rhythms!  One more day, then I’ll have a nice certificate that will tell all assorted and sundry individuals that I am a certified advanced dispatcher.  And that I really CAN get up at 7am, if I have to.  I will hate it, but I can.

Three of us from TCSO are attending, several from VPD,  Kings County, and surprisingly, Turlock and Tracy PD sent dispatchers all the way to Visalia’s boon-docks for the class.

The training is out at our offices at Sequoia Field, a WWII era pilot training facility.  Remodeled who knows how many times, several Sheriff’s Department offices are housed at the site.  It creates an interesting mix of the old and new.

One more day, and we’re done.  The two days so far have been interesting, and I feel that I’ve learned some things.  One, that all dispatchers are nuts, and two, that we all have the same problems!

The instructor is an interesting fellow, good speaker, tells some interesting stories, and is a fellow HAM radio operator!  With an repertoire like that, there’s no way the class can be boring.  The last day will be a different teacher, and rumors have been floated about her…  “different”…  methodology.  It will be interesting to see what happens.  I’ve heard things about a guitar, and candles.

Yeah, Thursday might be very interesting!

UPDATE: THURSDAY after the fold…

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I Hate It When I Get Squashed!

May 3, 2010

Jim Reeves 9-1-1, Humor, Personal , , , , Leave a comment

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