Step 5: Begin the Academy
The Academy is a uniquely designed program comprised of a 5-week classroom learning environment that provides Public Safety Dispatcher recruits with the skills, abilities, and procedures related to supporting Long Beach’s Police Department and Fire Department. Public Safety Dispatcher recruits will perform learned skills under a controlled, simulated, and challenging environment to help replicate real-life situations experienced by Public Safety Dispatchers. Our Academy will mentally and emotionally prepare recruits to thrive in the everchanging settings of the 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Center.
At the conclusion of the Academy, Public Safety Dispatcher recruits will be assigned to a Communication Training Officer (CTO) for the duration of their live training program. The first phase of live training focuses on reinforcing learned skills from the classroom that will better help recruits to answer incoming calls to the 9-1-1 Center. This includes 9-1-1 calls, non-emergency calls and requests from other departments within the City of Long Beach. The duration of this phase is approximately 12 weeks.
The second phase of the training program focuses on working the police or fire radio frequency. Due to the demanding nature of this position, the second training phase lasts between 24-36 weeks. Desirable skills include the ability to talk and type simultaneously while entering accurate details into a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) terminal, and making split-second, critical decisions while verbally communicating in code and plain talk over the radio frequency.
ACADEMY EXPECTATIONS:
The Public Safety Dispatch Academy will require recruits to study provided information and pass written examinations. This can be a time-consuming process. Without a solid support system, a recruit may find it difficult to meet the standard requirements set by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. There are several Learning Domains (LDs) that are taught in multiple learning modalities. This includes, but is not limited to classroom facilitation, training lab, live observation, and learning activities. While in the Academy, the recruit shall adhere to the following:
- Come to work on time and ready to learn
- Put forth your best effort when it comes to training and working as a member of our team
- Flexibility is a must
- Be accountable for your own actions
- Be able to take constructive criticism
