July 22nd, 1997 - 0330 hours

The two dispatchers on duty (one named "Cindy" and one named "Cyndi") accepted the challenge of dispatching from the patrol cars in the carport with great aplomb. They had compiled a list of cellular telephone numbers for the field sergeants in the various Areas, and "suggested" to the sergeants to make those cars available to the graveyard units in case diminished reception -- without the Comm Center antennas to support it -- turned out to be a problem while the Center was evacuated.

We set 'em up in the patrol cars, each with their own maps, pens, lists of cell phone numbers, field unit request cards, etc. They practiced using the unit radio control heads and settled right in.

They had originally dressed in "layers" and the weather that July night/morning was so mild, they didn't need all the layers or even have to use the heaters in the cars.

For a while, they sat anxiously awaiting transmissions to handle, but it was a very slow shift. (Thank god!) Pretty soon, they relaxed and started having a lot of fun. There were more calls to and from the units by cell phone -- just checking 'em, ya see -- than any real urgent traffic.

Now, if you don't think it was hard to keep from giggling whenever I had to talk to them over the sounds of the engines running, since their names may be spelled differently, but they sure don't sound different -- you don't know dispatchers in the middle of the night! They became "Yo! Green!" and "Hey! Black!" to represent the radio frequencies each controlled.

And, periodically, they had to clamber out of the cars to go check on the construction workers' progress on our window installation.