Went on a "sit-along"

My new friend Andrea is a dispatcher for the police. Tonight she allowed me to come on a "sit-along" with her (it is like a "ride-along" but I was just sitting beside her at the computer).

It was really interesting. Logan and many of the other cops I know where working.
Andrea and I spent the first three hours as dispatcher for Districts 3 & 7 (Logan works in 7).
It was a fairly slow night. There were some interesting things that happened - but nothing terribly exciting or over the top. It was crazy to see how much one person is in charge of watching. The level of multi-tasking certainly impressed me. And I feel like I am a good multi-tasker.

I think that I would have been really lost if I wasn't the wife of a cop. I spent the time learning 10 codes while Logan was memorizing, I understand some of the lingo, I have heard the stories, I understand the intentions and "plan" and have heard radio chatter before. Much of it went speeding past me. There were three screens of information and a number of open windows on each screen. Some things didn't need to be explained - but much of it did, mostly because I missed it the first time.

But as the time passed I could keep up a little more. We kept tabs on calls and cars. It was fun to see it happen. Especially since I don't plan on going on a ride along. This was the closest I will get to watching him work. We followed a call that Logan's car and another car we on for a long time. We followed their progress tried to help.

It was also interesting to get messages from Logan and some of the other fellows I know, including Andrea's fiance.

For the last three hours we moved over to 911 call taking. It was very different. It was a slow night and there really wasn't an interesting call. But it was interesting to see. I was especially interested in how much extra work the call takers are expected to do - besides answering the call. They do (should do) extra digging to find additional details for the responding unit. Mostly officer safety things. It makes me feel safer knowing that there are people that try to discover things before Logan has to - on the spot.

I don't know if I am prepared to make a career change to this particular career. But we shall see.