Though the Bladensburg (Md.) Police Department consists of approximately 20 police officers, it can often be a busy jurisdiction. For dispatcher and calltaker Karina Cruz, her 12-hour shift is never dull. With an undergraduate degree in criminal justice from the University of Maryland, Cruz began her career in the department three and a half years ago. “I love working with the police department. It is like having a second family,” Cruz says, and she added that no other job she has ever had can compare to it. She sees the officers on a daily basis, has a close knit relationship with them and works in the station.

Cruz is one of four telecommunicators on staff, and she says that the station can get very busy. “Time is precious where I work. Everything I do from calltaking to dispatching gets super busy, but I just like being there,” she says. There are days when she is the only one calltaker in the station. Some people may want to talk on the phone and others are calling on the radio. In addition, someone may walk into the station. However, Cruz’s first priority is the radio, and she prioritizes the phone calls. She must remain patient, calm and professional at all times. The ability to multitask is essential in her role combined with fast typing and computer skills. Carjackings, sexual assaults, suicides and shootings are the calls that Cruz considers most stressful. “We have a wide variety of calls that come in. It tends to happen all at once,” Cruz says.

Since she began her career in the police department, Cruz has matured with some tougher skin to deal with what comes her way. She recalls an incident during Thanksgiving 2013 in which a man and his daughter were carjacked at gunpoint. “It was the saddest thing ever on Thanksgiving—having a gun pointed to their heads. I never saw that until I started working for the police department. It has toughened me up. I was naïve. Now, my mind has changed a lot,” she says.

Another incident that remains forever embedded in her memory occurred approximately two or three years ago when some officers encountered a male subject in a shopping center, and they were aware he had an open warrant. When they tried to stop him, he fled and entered his vehicle and sped in the direction of one of the officers. The officer reacted by firing his weapon into the windshield striking the suspect in the shoulder, but the subject managed to drive away and ran over the officer’s foot in the process. He continued driving recklessly with other officers in pursuit. He subsequently hit a vehicle and caused injuries to the occupant of that vehicle and continued driving until he was eventually apprehended by another officer.

“Our officer was out for a while and had to have surgery on his leg. It was a very stressful situation and one of those days when everything that could go wrong was going wrong. I was here alone, and the phone was ringing with multiple calls about the same incident. Some called because they heard the shot being fired, others called saying they saw him run over the officer, and other calls about the accident he caused. Just too many calls were coming in simultaneously and I was only one person to answer them. At the same time, I had a few citizens at my window getting impatient because I wasn’t tending to their needs, not realizing I have multiple officers I am dealing with on the radio or that I have to contact the fire department for an accident with injuries and that the phone is ringing nonstop. I just wanted to see my officers and hug them and make sure they were OK,” Cruz says.

Cruz, however, is also heartened by the bright spots that occur in her day. She says recently a woman who has lived in Bladensburg for 40 years had no emergency but just called the station to say that everyone was doing a wonderful job and she just wanted to thank them. Cruz acknowledges that amidst the negativity, that one call made her remember why she does what she does. “It was an amazing feeling. It just made my day,” she says.

When she is not working, Cruz enjoys reading, bowling and cooking. “I love cooking. I love baking. If I wasn’t dispatching, I’d be a chef,” Cruz says.

Cruz is originally from Nicaragua and moved to the U.S. when she was 11-years-old. She is engaged to her high school sweetheart whom she has been dating for eight years. In fact, they are getting married on their eight year anniversary. He is very supportive of her career. “He worries about me as much as my mom does. He always manages to make my day a lot better when I have a stressful day at work. He is amazing,” Cruz says.

Cruz has learned a lot about life in her three and a half years on the job. “I realized crime happens everywhere, whether I see it or not.” She seems to have found her career niche and is even thinking of studying for an advanced degree. If she had it to do over, she says she would do it all again. “I love what I do,” Cruz says.

Karen L. Bune serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and Marymount University in Virginia, and is a consultant for the Training and Technical Assistance Center for the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. She is a nationally recognized speaker and trainer on public safety issues. Ms. Bune is Board Certified in Traumatic Stress and Domestic Violence, and she is a Fellow of The Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and the National Center for Crisis Management. She serves on the Institutional Review Board of The Police Foundation, Washington, D.C.