Job Description

Duties:

 

• Answers emergency and non-emergency radio and telephone transmissions in the Communications Center; ascertains nature of calls; gathers all necessary information to transmit or relay; and prioritizes calls based upon their nature and time factors.
• Dispatches and manages the deployment of police; fire and emergency and non-emergency incidents; broadcasts nature; location and time of incident; contacts all required personnel; ensures the presence of additional by contacting those designated for call-back; contacts and coordinates Mutual Aid response; relays information and supplemental information as needed.
• Provides emergency medical instructions to callers by phone; provides pertinent information to responding units by phone and/or radio; coordinates first responder; ambulance and Advanced Life Support responses.
• Monitors alarm systems; keeps accurate information; dispatches units when necessary; notifies personnel when alarms are out of service; assists in testing and maintaining alarms as needed; interprets signals and determines if contact needs to be made to responsible parties and/or subscribers.
• Maintains radio and telephone communications log; documents the location; safety; and status of personnel and equipment; researchers call or person's history in internal computer system; determines relevancy and relays significant history to field personnel; maintains ongoing contact with the responding personnel and keeps them informed of all pertinent information; keeps track of significant information; examples: broken traffic signals, closed streets, etc., and keep emergency personnel informed.
• Utilizes radios to monitor and communicate with field personnel; operates office equipment and pages personnel as required. 
• Interfaces with Fire Districts; Mutual Aid assignments and Massachusetts State Mobilization Plan.
• Enters and retrieves variety of data and extracts required data from computer and other information systems; maintains reports and records as required or requested.
• Inputs data into forms and reports both manually and digitally; announcements; criminal activity bulletins and any other information as directed by the supervisors and/or police and fire personnel.
• Attends State and City mandated job-related training; acquires and maintains mandatory certifications required for the position by the State 911 Board and/or requested by supervisors; examples: Enhanced 911, First Responder/CPR, Emergency Medical Dispatch, etc.. Attends at least 16 hours of yearly continuing education.
• Trains; assists in training and mentors new dispatchers.
• Assists in keeping site information up to date in the internal database.
• Provides Quality Assurance and peer review when volunteered; trained and assigned by the supervisor.
• Performs similar or related work as required.

Extra Info: 

• Full-time: 40 hours per week
• Schedule: 4 days on/2 days off. That means you will be working a rotating schedule which will include weekends and holidays.
• The shift that you work is basked on seniority and operational need. There are shift bids biannually.

Company Information

The Northampton Police Department (NPD) is a progressive and professional police agency. We pride ourselves on the exceptional level of service that we provide to our citizens and visitors of our community. As an accredited police agency we adhere to the very best police practices in the field. We are focused on crime prevention, detection, and the quality of life of our residents.

Our employees have access to a wide variety of training opportunities, are provided with high-quality equipment, and therefore are best prepared to respond effectively to the needs of our community. While we maintain a strong committment to those outside of our department, we are also committed to creating and maintaining a positive internal work environment. Employees are provided opportunities for professional growth and pursuit of their own interests within the field. We support the physical and mental fitness of our staff. Agency leaders also strive to provide an atmosphere where officers have opportunities to engage with community members in positive ways and to contribute to the betterment of the city and the department.

 

History:

 

From 1782 to 1860 Northampton residents relied on the services of the Northampton Society for the Thieves and Robbers for their protection. This was an organization of businessmen, comprised of a Clerk, a Treasurer, a Board of Directors and twelve pursuers. For a fee of $2.00 per year, this group provided protection for your property against thieves and robbers. Unfortunately, this organization was no longer in operation when in January of 1876, the Northampton National Bank was burglarized. The notorious and skilled burglars were able to pull off such a heist because the two night patrolmen employed by the town had gone home at 4:00 AM. In 1884, one of the early acts of the first Mayor of the newly chartered City of Northampton, was to establish a police department. Mayor Benjamin E. Cook appointed Colonel Joseph E. Parsons as the first Chief of Police in February of that year. Along with his two night policemen, his mission was to keep order, to remove all suspected persons and to protect property from loss or damage.

As the City of Northampton grew and changed, so too did it's police department. In 1917 we received our first police automobile. In that same year the Center Street School was converted to a police station. In 1965, the second police station was constructed in an adjacent lot on Center Street. In 2012, the department moved into the current building at 29 Center Street.

In its history the Northampton Police Department has led the way in many advances in the field of police services. Northampton was the first police department in Western Massachusetts to have the 911 phone system and among the first to offer videotaped booking for use in court proceedings. In more recent years, Northampton was the first community in Massachusetts to replicate the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE). In 1994, Northampton offered its first Citizen Police Academy.

In 2012 we transitioned into our new, state of the art, police facility. The building has allowed us to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of police operations and administration.

In 2015 former Chief Russell P. Sienkiewicz ended his 37 year career with NPD. He retired after serving as chief for 21 years. At that time Jody D. Kasper, the Captain of Operations at the time, was selected to lead the department. She was sworn in on June 30, 2015, and became the first female Police Chief of NPD and only the ninth active female Police Chief in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Since 2015, the Department continued to lead the way in many areas of policing. In 2016, embracing a harm reduction approach to addiction, NPD introduced the Drug Addiction and Recovery Team. The DART program provides support and referral services to individuals facing addiction. In 2016, committed to accountability and transparency, the Department became only the 55th police agency in the nation and the first in Massachusetts to join President Obama's White House Police Open Data Initiative. In 2017, the Department implemented a Comfort Dog program to assist with de-escalation and support for victims and witnesses of trauma. Also in 2017, the Department joined and completed the IACP's One Mind Campaign. This national initiative required that the Department train100% of our staff in Mental Health First Aid and have policies that support best practicies when responding to those in crisis. In 2019, in support of transparency and data collection specific to how officers respond to resistance, the Department joined the FBI Use of Force Data Collection effort and began contributing information in order to provide clear data on how often police use force that results in death or serious bodily injury. In 2020, recognizing the need for justice alternatives, the Department implemented a Restorative Justice program. This enables the Department to use a community based program as an alternative to traditional case resolution through the court system.

Experience

High School Degree or HiSet equivalent and from 1 to 2 years of word processing and customer service skills experience in a fast-paced office or customer service environment; or any equivalent combination of education and experience required. Successfully pass Massachusetts criminal record check.