And that doesn't mean simply calling the Comm Center and giving your radio identifier, then waiting for a response. "Pre-Alert" us as to what you're going to need, so we can prioritize our tasks within the Comm Center. Here's an illustration from our personal lives that should explain what I mean:

"Mom!"
.... no response......
"MOM!"
"Yes, dear, what is it?"
"Has the mail come yet?"
"No, it hasn't."

"Dad?"
"What......I'm busy!"
"Can I have the car keys?"
"No."
"Dad?"
"What?!?!?"
"Will you drive me to the hospital then, I'm bleeding pretty bad........."

Now, had Mom or Dad had some clue as to the nature of those inquiries before they were actually expressed, whatever Mom was doing would NOT have been interrupted at all (to reply to the inquiry) and perhaps Dad would have given immediate attention to the seriousness of the undisclosed situation.

It's the same with your Comm Center. We give YOU the chance to say "Stand by" - or stop what you're doing and tell us "Go ahead" when you're ready to copy, so you should be doing the same for us. Most importantly, it means we can give you our full attention ONCE WE HAVE PUT OTHER TASKS ASIDE, first.

Communications personnel already practice "telling the field what they're going to tell them" - they do it all the time. Here are some examples:

• "Unit 456, Dispatch - Information."
• "All units stand-by to copy BOL for Armed Robbery that just occurred....."
• "Motor 13, Center - Inquiry."
• "27-50, Monterey - Injury Accident."
• "321, Radio - your DL return when you're ready to copy."
• "Car 54 - Where are you?"

Basically, your dispatcher(s) should be pre-alerting you with at least three "categories" of circumstances:

1. Inquiry - We need to ask you a question (and chances are YOU won't need to write anything down.....)
2. Information - We are going to tell you something you should know (but you don't necessarily need to write it down...)
3. Detail - We're going to dispatch you somewhere. (You'll probably have to pull over to write this down....)

So, if you're going to request something, tell us what to expect, first. Please?

The following is a small snippet of "generic" radio traffic - keep in mind that each agency has its own protocols, but this should give you an idea of the "Pre-Alert" concept at work.

"Dispatch, 680 back in service."
"Copy 680, back in service."
"Dispatch, 592 - please call the reporting party back and get a better location."
"Copy 592, stand by."
"Dispatch, 567, traffic stop."
"567 go ahead."
"567 on a stop, 3rd and Main, license 3ABS192, California."
"Copy 567, 3rd and Main, 3ABS192."
"592, Dispatch - there's no answer at the number provided."
"592, copy."

......... time passes.............
"Dispatch, 567 - vehicle reg and California DL by number."
"567, California 3ABS192 is clear, I have the reg ready when you need it. Go ahead with the DL."

Any time someone makes an inquiry into a criminal justice database, or a DMV database, the inquiry must be formatted the way the particular database requires such inquiries. This means the dispatcher has to select the method, format the inquiry and also handle other documentation tasks related to YOUR activity.

We can already be typing the inquiry into the computer as you provide us with the information, if we know ahead of time how the information will be presented. Otherwise, we have to scramble to write down what you said, document what you're doing, and format the inquiry to be processed by the computerized database.

Also, believe it or not, we aren't just sitting, facing the radio console, listening hard for every precious transmission. A great majority of Comm Centers handle more than one agency's communications services; many dispatchers are also call-takers at the same time they are working a radio, and your partners in the field may have made a request for a phone call (see above "snippet" of radio traffic) or any of a zillion other tasks currently in progress when YOU make YOUR traffic stop or other radio transmission.

We can best serve your needs if we can get a hint of what it's all about first, so we can juggle all the tasks and determine who gets put on hold, who is told to stand-by, and we can 'set up' our computer screens for your request before we tell you to "go ahead."

Trust me, this is to provide the best service, not to annoy you.

If you practice "Pre-Alert" procedures, to tell us what you're GOING to tell us, we'll be better able to serve your needs without all those annoying "Repeat your location? (or the plate, or your unit number, or the whole thing!)" tranmissions.

So, now you got our attention, whatcha gonna say to us???
Better yet, how will you be sure we hear and understand you?

(Thanks to many of my online peers for suggestions on this section of The Break Room. I am particularly indebted to Sergeant Andrew J. Brill, Training Manager, NZ Police Northern Communications Centre for a hefty chunk of information I'll probably plagarize in other areas, as well.....)