Which is better–civilians or sworn in the comm center?
A. There’s no better way to stir up a hornet’s nest than to ask this question! But quite simply, there is no advantage in paying sworn personnel to staff a police or fire communications center. No, their field experience, training or badge-holding status does not make them more qualified than a civilian. However, there is one qualification to this conclusion: a civilian dispatcher must have equivalent or more training than the sworn personnel, must be given the same level of authority to act, and must be properly supervised. A civilian can do the job as good as–and usually better–than a sworn employee, and the pay and benefits will, arguably, be less. Fire and police unions continue to argue otherwise, but–get over it!–civilianization is inevitable.
