Police Dispatcher Mock Interview
Master 30 Police Dispatcher interview questions covering high-stress scenarios, multi-tasking abilities, and radio communication protocols.
Question 7 of 30
If there were a domestic dispute phone call and a potential suicide call at the same time, but only one available officer, where would you send the officer?
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Example Answer
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Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"This is a challenging question to answer definitively, but first, I would check to see which resources were available to me, such as other first-responders such as EMS or the fire department. My initial reaction would be to respond to the domestic call, especially if the situation were violent or involving a weapon."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
The way you approach this question will depend on the level of emergency response training you have received. When working in dispatch, there are levels of emergencies. You may learn priority dispatch codes, which consist of hundreds of categories and sub-categories ranging from non-emergency to health conditions, to violent crimes, and more. Every call is different, with each day bringing a range of decisions that need to be made, often in the blink of an eye.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"My response will change depending on the smaller details of each situation. For instance, if the domestic involves a weapon, or if the suicidal person has already taken self-harm action. As a Police Dispatcher, I have yet to come across a situation where only one officer is available; however, I can see how this would happen in a smaller town or rural area. One decision would be to dispatch the officer to the domestic while dispatching the fire department or ambulance to the potential suicide where the responders are cross-trained to handle situations such as self-harm."
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Anonymous Answer
Having to answer this without more detail is a little difficult, but if this is the only information provided and I had to make a call on where to send the officer, I would first try and see what other emergency services were currently available to me. If I had the fire department or EMS that I could send to the suicide call, then I would be able to send the officer to the domestic dispute where there is the potential for a weapon or violence to be involved.
Cindy's Feedback
This is a clever answer to a difficult question. This question seems to be testing your judgment and decision-making skills. Try focusing on your reasoning and explain why you're making the choice you've selected.
Anonymous Answer
As I learn more about the work of a dispatcher, dispatching the correct responders to the appropriate locations is very important. If only one officer is available, I would have to quickly decide which of the other units is trained in the least of the two emergencies. I believe having more details about these calls would help me determine the level of emergency.
Marcie's Feedback
So in this case it wouldn't necessarily be about prioritizing the calls; instead, it's about getting aid to both of the calls as quickly as possible. You might tell the interviewer that you would send your one available officer to the domestic dispute and then arrange to call in mutual aid from an outside department to respond to the suicide call. Nice job!
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