KANNAPOLIS – The city of Kannapolis Police and Fire Departments recently honored the telecommunicators who handle thousands of emergencies each year within Kannapolis and surrounding areas thanked them for their efforts.

These individuals dispatch Kannapolis police officers, fire suppression and medical units, and coordinate with surrounding agencies for other law enforcement, fire services and emergency medical services.

 “During the past year our telecommunicators have demonstrated their professionalism during many critical incidents,” said Police Chief Woody Chavis.

“They continue to receive recognitions and awards for their excellent and critical performance. They are true specialists and the lifeline for our citizens, our officers, our firefighters and our EMS personnel.  We cannot recognize and honor them enough for the fantastic job they do each and every day.” 

 In 2017, the city’s telecommunicators maintained a record answering 98 percent of the 911 emergency calls within an average of four seconds or less.

They dispatched 64,313 calls for service and answered 14,787 911 calls and 80,802 non-emergency calls for a total of 95,589 telephone calls. Telecommunicators are also responsible for entering all items with identifiable markings, wanted persons and missing persons into the National Crime Information Center’s database.

 Telecommunicators are trained to respond to a wide variety of emergencies that may arise each day. They must be able to retrieve information from callers while reassuring them and sending emergency services units to assist them, dispatching units over the radio, and receiving computer messages, often during periods of extreme stress and heavy call volume.

In their role of communicating with police and fire emergency services, they are often engaged with both emergency services at the same time for the same incident.

 For over 25 years, public safety agencies nationwide have recognized the pivotal role played by telecommunications personnel during National Telecommunicator Week in April.

 The following is a list of Kannapolis’ dedicated telecommunicators:

Shift supervisors: Heather Clay, 11 years; Johnny Caudle, 14 years, Heather Wagner, four years;  Megan Baker, two years.

Telecommunicators: Susan Martin, 15 years; Hollie Morton, seven years; Candice Wilhelm, six years; Shari Whiting, four years; Jennifer Frieze, Tanesha Lockett, Katherine Pohlman, two years; Ashley Bare, Eric Albright, Jaycie Holland and Kelly Russ, one year.