Lateral Public Safety Dispatcher

THIS RECRUITMENT IS FOR A LATERAL PUBLIC SAFETY DISPATCHER ONLY

In order to qualify for lateral status, you must be currently Oregon DPSST certified as a telecommunicator or currently certified by Washington state, Idaho, or California in an equivalent classification. Other laterals may be considered by the Chief of Police. Additionally, the candidate must also have at least 2 years of continuous employment within the last forty-seven (47) months. A lateral hire will be placed at the step equivalent to their years of DPSST or other accredited agency continuous certification, or at a step determined by the Chief for those laterals outside of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, or California.

Crook County 911 processes emergency and non-emergency calls for Crook County, Oregon. We also provide dispatch services for Prineville Police Department, Crook County Sheriff's Office, and Crook County Fire and Rescue in addition to coordinating with other local public entities and surrounding jurisdictions.

• Application screening. Next review will be on or about November 11, 2026.
• Criti Call skills testing. Qualified applicants from the next review will be offered Criti Call testing November 12-15, 2026. (Dates are subject to change.) (More information about Criti Call Test Genius can be found here: )
• Oral board interview.
• Dispatch center sit-in.
• Background investigation.
• Executive interview.
• Psychological evaluation.
• Physical and drug screening.

Notification and other communication during the hiring process is done via email and phone.

Public Safety Dispatchers must be able to independently answer and process 911 calls and non-emergency calls related to requests for public safety services. Duties often involve giving safety admonishments, medical instructions, and making determinations that may have a high degree of liability. Dispatchers must also use radio equipment and other technology to coordinate a response from police, fire, and medical personnel.

Dispatchers are responsible for documenting information related to calls for service as well as accounting for responder safety. This position works under the general supervision of the Communications Supervisor and/or Communications Director. This is a non-supervisory position.

The duties listed are intended only as Illustrative examples of the various types of work that may be performed by individuals in this classification. Any of the following duties may be performed. These examples are not necessarily performed by all incumbents and do not include all specific essential functions and responsibilities the incumbent may be expected to perform.

• Handles emergency and non-emergency phone calls and dispatches police, fire and/or medical response with a high sense of urgency.
• Occasionally handles requests for service via text to 911, email, or other methods of communication.
• Manages callers and quickly gathers pertinent information while providing professional, high-quality service.
• Provides instructions to callers to help guard their safety as well as the safety of others.
• Remains on the phone with callers as situations require.
• Communicates with responders via radio, phone, mobile data terminal, and other methods.
• Appropriately routes calls for service in outside jurisdictions to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), places outbound calls as needed.
• Comply with regulations and requirements for the use of any data systems accessible through local, state, regional, federal or international networks (e.g. RMS, DMV, LEDS, NCIC, Interpol, etc.)
• Enters accurate and orderly information into computer systems to generate and update calls for service while talking on the phone; simultaneously monitors and responds…