On Sunday, Aug. 19, the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International’s 78th Annual Conference & Expo attendees had the opportunity to attend a session titled 9-1-1 & Bullying: Does it happen in your PSAP? Robin Tieman, RPL, director of the Cass County 9-1-1 Department in Harrisonville, Mo., and Laurie Wall, assistant chief operator for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, were the session speakers. The session took a realistic look at everyday life within a 9-1-1 PSAP and confronted the reality that bullying can and does occur within the walls of a PSAP.

Bullying in the communications center can often resemble childish behavior that occurs in grade school and can involve one person verbally abusing another by threatening, humiliating, intimidating and sabotaging another’s work.

Tieman shared an example of bullying in the comm center. “For seven years of my career as a dispatcher, the biggest bully in the PSAP was our supervisor. Everyone feared her rage and horrible attitude. The entire morale of the division was always at an all-time low. She would turn employees against each other with nasty gossip. She found joy in humiliating her staff in front of others. When complaints went up the chain of command, nothing happened except she found out who complained and then she would make their lives even more miserable.”

Several factors make a communications center ripe for bullying:

1. Isolation within the building of the agency. PSAPs are usually in the dark recesses of the buildings, so no really knows what is happening inside.
2. Seniority is the name of the game in a communications center. There is always someone who has higher seniority—whether in years of service or simply perception. There is always some sort of perceived power over others.
3. Perfection in calls for service. Because lives are on the line, the information in the calls for service must be precise. So one telecommunicator will not only know what information was put in the CAD or broadcast over the air, they have the opportunity to critique the work.

It can be difficult to recognize that bullying is occurring, especially when it is not physical. Emotional or verbal abuse can be just as damaging as physical, but telecommunicators often believe they should have thick skin and should be able to take the verbal abuse on and off the phone. Management tends to have the attitude that, “This is childish, everyone needs to grow up.” However, all supervisors and managers have the responsibility to take all complaints of bullying or hostile work environment seriously—they must make the environment safe for all employees.

While the presenters were not attorneys, and could not provide any advice on legal responsibilities, they did state: Whether you are a telecommunicator, supervisor or manager, you have a moral obligation to report and/or to handle bullying situations in your communications center professionally. Further, you have the responsibility to be professional enough not to participate in bullying.

Details on education sessions and other speakers are available at www.apco2012.org.

About APCO International
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide—and the welfare of the general public as a whole—by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach. www.apcointl.org