Public Safety Dispatcher

Position Title & Department:

 Public Safety Dispatcher; Public Safety Posting #

4990

Department Description:

The Department of Public Safety supports the mission and goals of the University of San Diego by providing a full range of crime prevention and crime control services to contribute to the safety and security of the campus community. Our Public Safety Officers are responsible for a wide range of activities, including developing crime prevention programs, taking crime and accident reports, initiating investigations, responding to medical and fire emergencies, providing traffic control, and enforcing certain local and state laws, as well as rules developed by the University to address campus-related concerns.

University Description:

The University of San Diego, a contemporary and engaged Contemporary Catholic institution, was founded by the Diocese of San Diego and the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1949. Governed by an independent board of trustees since 1972, USD remains committed to a liberal arts education grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition and the pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. Inspired by this centuries old tradition of Catholic higher education, the University welcomes people of all faith traditions and any, or no, religious background. The future success of USD relies on the contributions of those who seek to foster the development of engaged global citizens and an earnest confrontation of humanity’s urgent challenges.

Detailed Description:

The dispatcher is generally the first point of contact for the campus community, faculty, staff, students, guests, and visitors needing information or assistance from Public Safety. The dispatcher is responsible for maintaining effective and efficient communications between public safety officers, kiosk officers, outside emergency and law enforcement agencies, the university community, and visiting public. They are responsible for answering and dispatching public safety officers to emergency and non-emergency calls for service and performing various technical tasks operating technically advanced and complex alarm computer systems, video surveillance systems, and mobile radio systems. They use a computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) to input, retrieve and generate reports. The dispatcher must demonstrate good judgment and discretion in stressful situations; use independent judgment for problem-solving and is expected to analyze situations, prioritize quickly, and make decisions immediately when dealing with emergencies and general calls for service. In addition to handling emergency, non-emergency, and informational requests for the department, dispatchers assist the campus community and visitors with requests for service and general information. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Answer and screen incoming emergency and non-emergency public safety calls for service to elicit and record pertinent information; dispatch calls for service, critical incidents, and emergency calls; coordinate calls for outside emergency and law enforcement agency assistance.
• Day-to-day assignments performed require regular use of judgment and discretion, essential to set priorities, assess the importance of information, and react quickly and effectively, following established protocols and procedures in most instances. Incumbents are accountable for actions taken.
• Contacting on-call counselors, CARE advocates, medical providers, facilities department, university administrators, and allied agencies following established procedures; and at the request of officers when responding to an incident and in need of field support. 
• Maintain radio contact with public safety personnel on assignment and keep supervisors and officers informed of current situations while monitoring campus alarm and video systems as well as monitoring public safety radio frequencies of the surrounding community for any activity that would impact the university’s safety and security. 
• Utilize alarms, cameras, university records (Cognos and CSGold), door access, and parking computer systems to maintain and retrieve dat