Fifteen students will graduate Friday (Oct. 6, 2023) from South Dakota’s Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course.
The two-week course includes training and hands-on exercises on issues such as public safety telecommunications, how to respond to questions from the caller, how to handle both emergency and non-emergency calls for service and how to prioritize multiple incidents happening at one time.
Instructors are staff from the state Division of Criminal Investigation’s Office of Law Enforcement Training (Attorney General’s Office), experienced 911 telecommunicators from across the state and public safety stakeholders.
Friday’s graduation starts at 3:30pm in the George S. Mickelson Criminal Justice Center in Pierre. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley is the guest speaker. He says it’s important to recognize the telecommunicators because they are the first voices people hear when they call 911, and these are also the people who then relay the emergency information to first responders.
Members of the 73rd session of the Basic Telecommunicator Certification Course and their law enforcement organization are:
- Callie Whidby, Central South Dakota Communications.
- Teylor Talley, Mobridge Police Department.
- Cade Bench-Bresher, Metro Communications.
- Kurtis Bohler, Metro Communications.
- Julie Denning, Metro Communications.
- Jasmine Feild, Huron Police Department.
- Kessa Grush-Wulf, Metro Communications.
- Cameron Halterman, Pennington County Emergency Services Communications Center.
- Madisen Hankins, Pennington County Emergency Services Communications Center.
- Josie Havemann, Rosebud Police Department.
- Dawysn Kahler, Pennington County Emergency Services Communications Center.
- Lexy Linares, Meade County Sheriff’s Office.
- Samuel Sanderson, Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.
- Audrey Sexter, Watertown Police Department.
- Abby Wentz, Brown County Communications.
Comments