Christmas time in dispatch, circa 2001. I’m in my early 40’s here. 10-4
A Ghost of Christmas Past
December 12, 2014
9-1-1, Personal, Pictures 9-1-1, christmas past, dispatch, kc6yru 1 Comment
Keep those doggies rollin’
October 3, 2014
9-1-1, Humor, Personal 9-1-1, 9-1-1 stories, cattle, goodbye broadcast, last shift, texas, whaley Leave a comment
Tonight we gave Sgt. Whaley a proper radio send-off, as he leaves us to begin a new career as a cattleman in Texas.
Good luck and best wishes in the Lone Star State!
July 5, 1994 – Communications Operator I
July 5, 2014
9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1, 911, dispatch, Jim Reeves, TCSO, tulare county sheriff, twenty years a dispatcher 1 Comment
I walked into the building at 7am, July 5, 1994, for the first time as an employee. Communications Operator I. Three months of training lay ahead, and a year’s worth of probation. The place was the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the room was in the basement, in a space originally designed to be a gymnasium / weight lifting room. As of today, I’ve put in 20 years in that cramped space.
I’m entering William Shatner’s contest
May 31, 2014
9-1-1, geek, Personal boston legal, contest, Denny Crane, James T Kirk, las vegas, star trek, T J Hooker, William Shatner Leave a comment
I first became aware of William Shatner in 1972. I was in 8th grade, and a new local television station was airing reruns of 60’s television programs, including a “Wagon Train to the stars”. Every day after school I would get home, burn through my homework, and be ready to watch when it came on. I would have watched it in prime time during it’s time on network television, but Dad had control of the one TV in the house, and he was a western show guy. I never had a chance back then!
My teen years included daily sessions with Mr. Shatner and the crew, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen each episode. Bill has been a fixture in my life, and I’d love to have a chance to see him in person.
I live in Visalia, California, just down the road from property he once owned (or still does?) in Three Rivers. I would hear stories from locals who had met him, and was always a bit envious. (I’ve worked at the Sheriff’s Department 9-1-1 dispatch for 20 years, and got to hear some stories from the resident deputy and his wife. Having him host a show about 9-1-1 was icing on the cake!)
At any rate, Mr. Shatner, I’d love to meet the man behind the characters. I’ve heard it’s a great show, and I look forward to being in the audience.
Contact me, Jim Reeves, at jim.visalia@gmail.com I’m on Twitter as @KC6YRU, and have been a follower of Mr. Shatner on Twitter for some time now.
(fingers crossed)
Sometimes the universe just plays games with us
January 18, 2014
9-1-1, commentary 9-1-1, 911, dispatch, dispatch loads, full moon, q word, quiet 1 Comment
Around 11pm on a Friday, just after a full Moon, on a winter day where the temperature hit 72 degrees that afternoon. It’s almost scary.
You found what?? And you did what with them???
December 11, 2013
9-1-1, commentary 9-1-1, 911 dispatch, dispatcher stories, hand grenades Leave a comment
Sometimes you really have to wonder.
Tonight we received a call on 9-1-1 from a woman who said she was in our parking lot and needed to have a deputy come out to speak to her immediately. When asked why she needed a deputy, she said she had been clearing out her deceased mother’s residence and had discovered two hand grenades, had brought them here, and needed someone to come get them.
That of course required the local bomb squad be called out, as the initial deputies determined that they appeared to be real, live grenades.
One of the incredible things about this caller was that she was getting very upset that we were unable to get someone out to her in four minutes, so she called back wanting to know what the delay was about. (the deputies are out on patrol, not in the building!) We got someone out shortly thereafter, they called the bomb squad, and the grenades were disposed of by the bomb techs. It didn’t dawn on her, apparently, that handling and transporting them was probably more dangerous than sitting in the parking lot waiting!
Sigh.
Rule of grenades (or other explosive devices) #1 – Leave them alone, and call 9-1-1! Don’t pick them up, don’t drive them someplace in your car, and don’t get huffy with the 9-1-1 operator trying to help you!
Rule of grenades (or other explosive devices) #2 – See rule #1
A Day in LGBT America – The Advocate
December 10, 2013
9-1-1, Gay, Personal 9-1-1 dispatcher, 911, A Day in LGBT America, Jim Reeves, The Advocate 1 Comment
The Advocate asked for submissions for a piece on “A Day in LGBT America”, so I sent one in. They chose it as one of those posted on the web. It brings up the end of the day, since I took it at 10:48 pm.
Workin’ the OT
October 4, 2013
9-1-1, geek, Personal 911 dispatch, dispatch, tulare, tulare county sheriff, visalia 1 Comment
10-4-2013 Tulare County Sheriff’s Dispatch, Channel 1, south end of Tulare County.
Hey! Donkey! (said in your best Shrek voice)
September 18, 2013
9-1-1 BOLO, dispatcher stories, donkey broadcast, sheriff, traffic 1 Comment
So every once in a while, the routine stuff gets to be a bit fun to play with. Even if most of the funny is only in my own head.
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
I think his name was Murphy
September 27, 2014
Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1, dispatcher stories, murphy's law 3 Comments
Sometimes the universe conspires to bring together a multiplicity of situations, each of which would be a minor problem on it’s own, but when combined create potential for deadly mayhem. Last night I experienced that perfect storm, and it could end badly. Here’s a list of the things that could go wrong, and did: He didn’t call on a 9-1-1 line, and he didn’t speak English. Once a translator was on the line, he didn’t mention the single most important fact of the situation, or the translator failed to properly understand the emergency. He started off asking to speak to a particular officer, but mangled the name so badly that I had no clue who he was referring to, and wasted precious time trying to figure out who he might have meant. After much too much time was wasted on what would turn out to be unimportant details, he got around to explaining the problem. I about fell out of my chair once I understood what he was trying to convey. I was yelling for an ambulance to start, getting deputies responding code 3, and basically cursing him and the translator (to myself, never out loud) for beating around the bush when speed was of the essence.
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