Environment DEC
From the June 2007 issue
Year of Expanded Dispatch Service Proves the Value of 24/7 Coverage
Field officers communicate with the dispatch center using a variety of mobile technologies
On February 1, 2006, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) expanded its dispatch center at the Region 5 Office in Ray Brook to a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week operation, with statewide responsibilities after regular business hours. DEC's dispatch center serves as a police dispatch for environmental conservation officers (ECOs), and forest rangers in its Office of Public Protection. The primary responsibilities of the center are the safety of officers and rangers in the field, backcountry search and rescue, wildland fire management, and responding to violations of Environmental Conservation Law.
Eleven dispatchers, supervised by an ECO lieutenant and sergeant, use a variety of systems to communicate with the public and other DEC staff including: radio, wired and wireless phone services, e-mail and voice over Internet protocol (VOIP). They also access state law enforcement and motor vehicle databases to obtain information needed by officers and rangers.
Center Quickly Proved Its Worth
The dispatch center quickly proved to be critical to DEC's mission. Over a one-year period, between April 2006 and April 2007, the dispatch center fielded:
- 70,350 phone calls;
- 873 TIPP (Turn in Poachers and Polluters) complaints;
- 161 search and rescue missions;
- 51 wildland fire calls, and
- Nearly 800 complaints via e-mail.
The dispatch center is a valuable improvement to DEC's exemplary service to the citizens and natural resources of New York State. The number of complaints called into the DEC TIPP Hotline increased by 265% compared to the year prior to the expansion of the dispatch center. The public is much more comfortable knowing that there is a live person at the other end of the phone line. During approximately that same time period, ECOs issued 4,000 additional tickets compared to the previous year.
Dispatchers Receive Highly Specialized Training
Dispatchers continue to receive highly specialized training related to the various types of incidents responded to by DEC and other police agencies. This training enables them to work more effectively with officers and rangers in the field, and to better coordinate the resources and staff needed to respond to an incident.
Recently, dispatchers attended a training session for fire weather, fire response, and firefighting tools provided by DEC Forest Rangers. Dispatchers gained firsthand knowledge of DEC's statewide system of weather stations and how to use the information they generate to benefit DEC employees' safety in the field during fire season. Other training has included search and rescue, incident management and hazardous materials response.
Wide Ranging Responsibilities
In addition to these duties, dispatchers are responsible for ensuring the safety of field staff in various DEC Region 5 programs. They frequently interact with other state, county and local law-enforcement agencies. At night and on weekends, they handle statewide calls from the public regarding nuisance and injured wildlife, air and water quality problems, and wetlands law violations. The dispatch center may simultaneously coordinate DEC's response to a nuisance bear in Alleghany County, a lost hiker in the Adirondacks, and water pollution incident in Staten Island.
The toll free number for the DEC dispatch center is 1-877-457-5680. Calls to the TIPPs Hotline (1-800-TIPP DEC or 1-800-847-7332), the Forest Ranger Emergency Line (518-891-0235), and e-mails from the Report an Environmental Problem web page on DEC's website are also directed to the dispatch center.
No matter how you contact the dispatch center you can be sure that a competent, dedicated dispatcher will be there to answer your call for assistance.
