April 10-16, 2022 is National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. Penticton RCMP happily honours our 911 Police Dispatchers here in the Okanagan.
"I had the opportunity to talk to two of our Dispatchers here in the Okanagan," said Cst Dayne Lyons, Media Relations Officer for Penticton RCMP. "I wanted to learn why they became 911 Dispatchers, what a memorable call for service was, and what they do to take care of their mental and physical health. I admire how resilient they are. Emergency calls come at all times and they never fail to answer each with compassion, professionalism, and skill. Our Police Dispatchers are heroes!"
I started working in a local police station to make money for college but I ended up loving the job so much I just stuck with it. I started at several different City Police and RCMP offices in the Lower Mainland from 1986-1998. I married a Mountie and we took numerous transfers around the arctic then back to BC. In 2012, I relocated to the Okanagan and have been at the Southeast District OCC since then.
I am in this job to help people and make people feel safe, so when those calls from people that are particularly vulnerable come in, it has a lot more impact – it's the calls with kids, seniors and animals that get us. I did have a call on 911 recently and a very sweet young voice said, "Is this the police?" I said, "Yes, it is how can we help you?" and she said, "I just wanted to thank you for being in our community." That definitely put a smile on my face for the rest of the day and reminded me why I love this job so much.
Alana W. – 911 Police Dispatcher
I was born and raised in Penticton. I have been a 911 Police Dispatcher now for 10 years, and am a passionate field coach as well. Choosing this career has been one of my proudest life decisions
I have handled many calls these last 10 years, good and bad – some that will stay with me the rest of my life, but many with favourable outcomes that remind why I love my job. One call I am proud of my work on was a high-risk weapons call. All resources were deployed and everyone on high alert. Once the call was over the responding police officers thanked me on the radio for a job well done and stressed to me how much they appreciated my calm radio voice during the dispatch. I take pride in my ability to persevere level-headedly during high adrenaline.
Besides obvious visits to see my psychologist to 'unload my backpack' as she calls it, I find travel and spending time outdoors and with my pup is my best therapy. I try to check off a new bucket list country every year (last year was Antarctica!), a bucket list ski hill abroad every winter (last season was Switzerland!), and as many bucket list Okanagan hikes as I can every summer (Pincushion is my favourite!).
