Oakland Dispatchers help LESA Dispatchers 0
CAL-EDA is proud to be able to send 2 Oakland Police Department Dispatchers to the Law Enforcement Support Agency (LESA) in Washington state. They will be there for three days for Peer Support for our dispatch colleagues who lost four officers recently.
While there are many great programs to help dispatchers who have gone through traumatic events, i.e. Peer Support, Chaplains, EAP, etc, nothing can compare to those who have previously gone through a similar experience. These two Oakland Police Dispatchers will be able to truly empathize with the LESA Dispatchers – as they have gone through an equally horrific chain of events.
It is times like this when I am most proud of our profession, of our Association, to be able to offer help to dispatchers in need. As a group, we rarely like to ask for help, but truly appreciate it once it arrives. One thing I told the Assistant Director of LESA when we were talking was, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t turn any help away…Dispatchers from all over the country want to do something, so let them’.
Join me in wishing our colleages a safe trip, and hope that they are able to reach out and touch the lives of the dispatchers in Washington. This is the epitome of ‘doing the right thing’, the very foundation of the Association.
As always, thank you for your service. You truly do make a difference.
Kurt
