GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — It’s National Public Safety Telecommunications week.
Brown County’s Director of Public Safety Communications, Cullen Peltier, says dispatchers have had quite the year, with things changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It did seem like we had a lot more welfare checks, people that are wondering if their families okay,” Peltier explained. “Or a friend of theirs or family member would be suicidal and wants to check on them. I think we’ve seen an uptick of those.”
Peltier says in the early days of the pandemic, call volume dropped severely. It’s only now beginning to return to normal levels over a year later.
He says dispatchers can be seriously affected by their jobs, and don’t get enough credit for what they do.
“We’re honoring them this week because of the job that they do, day in and day out, without really being the face of public safety. They’re behind the scenes,” Peltier told WTAQ. “It takes a very strong person to be able to deal with those types of calls being Dale year over year and not have that affect you in some way shape or form.”
The second full week of April has been National Public Safety Telecommunications week since 1981.
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