Analyze Projected Job Growth in Public Safety

1. Analyze Projected Job Growth in Public Safety Police and Detective Job Outlook Police, Fire and Ambulance Dispatchers Job Outlook Firefighters Job Outlook EMTs and Paramedics Job Outlook Correctional Officers Job Outlook Emergency Management Specialists Job Outlook Emergency Management Directors Job Outlook Public and private pay levels: a comparison in large labor markets

2. Police and Detectives A Brief Overview SWHS Public Safety Program

3. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Detectives and criminal investigators typically do the following:: • Investigate crimes • Collect evidence of crimes • Conduct interviews with suspects and witnesses • Observe the activities of suspects • Arrest suspects • Write detailed reports and fill out forms • Prepare cases and testify in court SWHS Public Safety Program

4. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Uniformed officers: • Enforce laws • Respond to calls for service • Patrol assigned areas • Conduct traffic stops and issue citations • Arrest suspects • Write detailed reports and fill out forms • Prepare cases and testify in court SWHS Public Safety Program

5. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Uniformed police officers have general law enforcement duties. • They wear uniforms that allow the public to easily recognize them as police officers. • They have regular patrols and also respond to calls for service. • Police agencies are usually organized into geographic districts, with uniformed officers assigned to patrol a specific area. SWHS Public Safety Program

6. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Officers in large agencies often patrol with a partner. • During patrols, officers look for any signs of criminal activity and may conduct searches or arrest suspected criminals. • They may also respond to emergency calls, investigate complaints, and enforce traffic laws. SWHS Public Safety Program

7. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Some police officers work only on a specific type of crime, such as narcotics. • Officers, especially those working in large departments, may also work in special units, such as horseback, motorcycle, and canine corps or special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams. • Typically, officers must work as patrol officers for a certain number of years before they may be appointed to one of these units. SWHS Public Safety Program

8. Police and Detectives What Do They Do? • Many city police agencies are involved in community policing, a philosophy of bringing police and members of the community together to prevent crime. • A neighborhood watch program is one type of community policing. • Some agencies have special geographic and enforcement responsibilities. • Examples include public college and university police forces, public school district police, and transit police. SWHS Public Safety Program

9. State Police Officers • Called state troopers or highway patrol officers, have many of the same duties as other police officers. • They may spend more time enforcing traffic laws and issuing traffic citations. • State police officers have authority to work anywhere in the state and are frequently called on to help other law enforcement agencies, especially those in rural areas or small towns. • State highway patrols operate in every state except Hawaii. SWHS Public Safety Program

10. Transit and Railroad Police • Transit and Railroad Police patrol railroad yards and transit stations. • They protect property, employees, and passengers from crimes such as thefts and robberies. • They remove trespassers from railroad and transit properties and check the IDs of people who try to enter secure areas. SWHS Public Safety Program

11. Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs • Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs enforce the law on the county level. • Sheriffs’ departments tend to be relatively small. • Sheriffs usually are elected by the public and do the same work as a local or county police chief. SWHS Public Safety Program

12. Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs • Some sheriffs’ departments do the same work as officers in urban police departments. • Police and sheriffs’ deputies who provide security in city and county courts are sometimes called bailiffs. SWHS Public Safety Program

13. Detectives and Criminal Investigators • Detectives and criminal investigators are plainclothes investigators who gather facts and collect evidence for criminal cases. • They conduct interviews, examine records, observe the activities of suspects, and participate in raids or arrests. • Detectives usually specialize in investigating one type of crime, such as homicide or fraud. • Detectives are typically assigned cases on a rotating basis and work on them until an arrest and conviction is made or until the case is dropped. SWHS Public Safety Program

14. Fish and Game Wardens • Fish and game wardens enforce fishing, hunting, and boating laws. • They patrol hunting and fishing areas, conduct search and rescue operations, investigate complaints and accidents, and educate the public about laws pertaining to their environment. SWHS Public Safety Program

15. Federal Law Enforcement • Federal law enforcement officials carry out many of the same duties that other police officers do; however, they have jurisdiction over the entire country. • Many federal agents are highly specialized. • The following are examples of federal agencies in which officers and agents enforce particular types of laws: • U.S. Border patrol agents protect international land and water boundaries. SWHS Public Safety Program

16. Federal Law Enforcement • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents are the federal government's principal investigators, responsible for enforcing more than 300 federal statutes and conducting sensitive national security investigations. • U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents enforce laws and regulations relating to illegal drugs. • U.S. Secret Service uniformed officers protect the President, the Vice President, their immediate families, and other public officials. • Federal Air Marshals provide air security by guarding against attacks targeting U.S. aircraft, passengers, and crews. SWHS Public Safety Program

17. Police and Detectives Pay • The median annual wage for police and detectives was $56,980 in May 2012. • The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. • The lowest 10 percent earned less than $33,060, and the top 10 percent earned more than $93,450. SWHS Public Safety Program

18. Police and Detectives Pay • The median wages for police and detective occupations in May 2012 were as follows: • $74,300 for detectives and criminal investigators • $55,270 for police and sheriff’s patrol officers • $55,210 for transit and railroad police • $48,070 for fish and game wardens SWHS Public Safety Program

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20. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers

21. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers, also called 9-1-1 operators or public safety telecommunicators, answer emergency and non-emergency calls. • They take information from the caller and send the appropriate type and number of units.

22. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Duties • Answer 9-1-1 telephone calls • Determine, from the caller, the type of emergency and its location • Decide the appropriate emergency response based on agency policies and procedures • Relay information to the appropriate emergency or non-emergency service agency or agencies

23. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Duties • Coordinate sending emergency response personnel • Give over-the-phone medical help and other instructions before emergency personnel get to the scene • Monitor and track the status of police, fire, and ambulance units on assignment • Synchronize responses with other area communication centers • Keep detailed records about calls

24. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Dispatchers answer calls for service when someone needs help from police, fire fighters, emergency services, or a combination of the three. They take both emergency and non-emergency calls. • Dispatchers must stay calm while collecting vital information. • Some dispatchers only take calls. Others only use radios to send appropriate personnel. Many dispatchers do both tasks.

25. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Dispatchers keep detailed records about the calls that they take. • They may use a computer system to log important facts, such as the name and location of the caller. • They may also use crime databases, maps, and weather reports, when helping emergency response teams. Dispatchers may monitor alarm systems, alerting law enforcement or fire personnel when a crime or fire occurs.

26. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • In some situations, dispatchers must work with people in other jurisdictions to share information or to transfer calls. • Dispatchers may monitor alarm systems, alerting law enforcement or fire personnel when a crime or fire occurs. • Dispatchers must often give instructions on what to do before responders arrive. Some dispatchers are trained to give medical help over the phone, For example, they might help someone give first aid until emergency medical services get to the scene.

27. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • Most police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers have a high school diploma or GED. Additional requirements vary. Many states require dispatchers to become certified. • The typical entry-level education is a high school diploma or a GED. However, some employers may not specify any educational requirements. Others prefer to hire dispatchers who have a related 2- or 4-year degree in a subject such as criminal justice, computer science, or communications.

28. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • Most dispatcher jobs require an applicant to complete an interview as well as to pass a written exam and a typing test. In addition, applicants may need to pass a background check, lie detector and drug tests, as well as tests for hearing and vision. • Most states require a dispatcher to be a U.S. citizen, and some jobs require a driver’s license. Both computer skills and customer service skills can be helpful, as is the ability to speak a second language.

29. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • Training requirements vary by state. Some states require dispatchers to be certified. • Several states require 40 hours or more of initial training. Some require continuing education every 2 to 3 years. Other states do not mandate any specific training, leaving individual agencies to conduct their own courses.

30. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • Some agencies have their own programs for certifying dispatchers; others use training from a professional association. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO),the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) have established a number of recommended standards and best practices that agencies may use as a guideline for their own training programs.

31. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • Training is usually conducted in both a classroom setting and on the job, and is often followed by a probationary period of about 1 year. • Training covers a wide variety of topics, such as local geography, agency protocols, and standard procedures. Dispatchers are also taught how to use specialized equipment, such as a 2-way radio and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software.

32. How to Become a Police, Fire, or Ambulance Dispatcher • They receive training to prepare for specific types of incidents, such as a child abduction or a suicidal caller. Some dispatchers receive emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) training, which enables them to give medical assistance over the phone. • Dispatchers may choose to pursue additional certifications, such as NENA’s emergency number professional (ENP) or APCO’s Registered Public-Safety Leader (RPL) to prove their leadership skills and knowledge of the profession.

33. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Important Qualities: • Ability to multitask. Responding to an emergency over the phone can be stressful. Dispatchers must stay calm to simultaneously answer calls, collect vital information, coordinate responders, and assist callers. • Empathy. People who call 9-1-1 are often in distress. Dispatchers must be willing and able to help callers with a wide variety of needs. They must be calm, polite, and sympathetic, while also quickly getting information.

34. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Important Qualities: • Leadership skills. Dispatchers work with law enforcement, emergency response teams, and civilians in emergency situations. They must be able to efficiently communicate the nature of the emergency • Listening skills. When answering an emergency call or handling radio communications, a dispatcher must listen carefully. Dispatchers must be able to record the call accurately. • Problem-solving skills. They must be able to quickly determine the appropriate action when people call for help.

35. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers work in a communication center, often called a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). • Police, fire, and ambulance dispatchers held about 100,100 jobs in 2010. • They work in a communication center, often called a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).

36. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • CAD(Computer Aided Dispatch) typically consists of a suite of software packages used to initiate public safety calls for service, dispatch, and maintain the status of responding resources in the field. • It is generally used by emergency communications dispatchers, call-takers, and 911 operators in centralized, public-safety call centers, as well as by field personnel utilizing mobile data terminals (MDTs) or mobile data computers (MDCs).

37. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • The design, development, purchase and installation of CAD systems can be a complicated endeavor for a medium or large-size public safety agency. • It involves connection to a wide variety of other systems: alarm inputs, mobile data systems, time synchronization sources, records management systems, CAD systems of other agencies, and the local, county, state and federal network of criminal justice.

38. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • CAD programs have essential elements or components that support the dispatcher's work: • Incident information - This is a database of the incident data, usually obtained from a telephone caller, and including the location (house number and street name, commonplace name, intersection), caller info, and other information gathered by the dispatcher. • CAD typically compares the location to previous entries, and then displays an alert if the new incident is related to a existing incident record, based both on the proximity of current incidents, and address matches on previous incidents.

39. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • E911 interface - The CAD computer is electronically connected to the 911 system, so that the caller's telephone number and address information (ANI/ALI) are displayed on-screen, and automatically transferred to the appropriate fields of the CAD incident entry form. • Location verification - Once the incident locations automatically entered from 911 or manually typed in, the CAD software matches it against the geofile created by the agency when the software was first installed.

40. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • The geofile is a database of standardized locations, including specific house numbers and streets names, commonplace names (Jackson Park), and intersections. The geofile insures that locations are within the jurisdiction, within a valid block number range, and are consistently entered and entered (which assists in later searches).

41. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Incident display - Once an incident is entered, CAD can display a list of the pending, current and past incidents, according to the dispatcher's assignment (telephones, radio, Beat 3, fire-police-EMS, special) and preference. Incidents are usually sorted by date, time and priority, but also by location, type of incident or other criteria, to make evaluation of the incidents quicker and easier.

42. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Unit display - CAD has a database of personnel and field units, which is used to display a list of active units. This database includes the unit ID, assigned personnel, special capabilities (K-9, SWAT, etc.). The database is linked to the incident database, allowing the dispatcher to display unit status: in-service, out-of-service, etc. Using commands or on-screen buttons, the dispatcher can change a unit's status or assign it to incidents.

43. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Incident dispatch - With information about incidents and units, the dispatcher can link an incident to one or more field units, which essentially assigns the units to the incident. Most CAD software will provide a recommendation of which units should respond, based on pre-determined tables or a unit's actual location from an AVL sub-system. Based on pre-determined tables, CAD also takes into account the type of incident (high danger, low danger), and type of unit (patrol, supervisor, canine, etc.) when making the recommendation.

44. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Timestamping- whenever the dispatcher takes an action (enter a new incident, dispatch a unit, unit arrives on-scene, etc.), the computer records that time and links it to the incident and unit records for later review • Special features - Some CAD software is focused on EMS or fire operations, and have standing order or jump crew capabilities.

45. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Report generation - to help analyze incident and unit activity, CAD allows production of reports listing all types of information, by ranges of date and time, and sorted by various fields. • External links - The CAD computer and software can be linked to other computer systems, including the agency's E911 system (to automatically fill in the caller's name, address and telephone number), local-county-state-federal law enforcement databases (NCIC, warrants, vehicle registration, driver's license, stolen vehicle and property, etc.), master clock synchronization, radio systems (to show last unit that broadcast, or unit that pressed "emergency" button), mobile data, records management, paging, etc.

46. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Mapping - Many modern comm centers have installed computer mapping systems to assist them in handling Phase II E911 calls. These mapping systems can also be interfaced with the CAD geofile to display units and incident locations. • Maintenance - The software allows the system administrator to create and edit the various support files, and to make data back-ups of the various files.

47. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Security - CAD information is generally considered confidential for investigative reasons, for the privacy of victims and witnesses, and in some cases to comply with state laws (juveniles, etc.). The software provides a flexible method of assigning security levels for all the various types of information, the various CAD functions, and all users. This allows an administrator to very specifically assign access permissions to every user, limiting them to just what functions they are allowed to perform, and what information they are allowed to see.

48. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Security - CAD information is generally considered confidential for investigative reasons, for the privacy of victims and witnesses, and in some cases to comply with state laws (juveniles, etc.). The software provides a flexible method of assigning security levels for all the various types of information, the various CAD functions, and all users. This allows an administrator to very specifically assign access permissions to every user, limiting them to just what functions they are allowed to perform, and what information they are allowed to see.

49. Police, Fire, and Ambulance Dispatchers • Most dispatchers work for local governments, but some work for state governments or for private companies. They are largely employed by law enforcement agencies and fire departments. • Most dispatchers work 8- to 12-hour shifts, but some agencies choose to use 24-hour shifts.