Dispatch Calls
Dear Editor: I wrote the attached letter and provided it to our Assembly in February.
Last week, after reading this letter and asking me zero questions, the Assembly approved the contract to allow Sitka’s dispatch to answer 911 calls for Whittier and Girdwood, knowing there are zero full-time trained dispatchers to do this work.
Our community deserves to know that when they call 911 now, the one person there to answer your call, may be on a 911 call with a different city, trying to save someone’s life, and your standard of care just went down tremendously.
Maybe the fire department should be answering Sitka’s 911 calls now, so we get the standard of care we deserve from a department who truly cares about their team and community!
Please consider providing this letter to our community.
Dear Mayor Eisenbeisz and City of Sitka Assembly Members: Your local police department, operated by the City of Sitka, is in a critical state and needs your attention.
The Sitka Police Department serves our community, and outside areas for all 911 calls, and most police matters.
I am writing to ask you the question: why is the known, ongoing, severe staff shortage at the city’s Police Department not being questioned? Ask any individual that has quit dispatch or the jail since late 2021, and you will undoubtedly find there were issues inside the department that lead to their leaving. None of the individuals spoke up for fear of the administration’s retaliation, from the past history. No one was asked for an exit interview. So the pattern continues.
Out of the thirty-one (31) total jobs in the police department, there are said to now be twelve (12) total employees to cover the work of those 31 jobs. Your patrol officers, who are trained in patrol functions only, are now also spending overtime hours, making patrol overtime wages, covering shifts in the jail or dispatch without the proper training. This opens up an incalculable list of liabilities in dispatch and the jail. An officer sitting in a dispatcher chair does not have the essential training required for the efficient handling of dispatching. Likewise, an officer filling in for jail staff without the appropriate training puts everyone in the jail, and potentially worse, at a safety risk, especially when alcohol, drugs and mental health struggles are often involved.
While the shift-covering mess ensues due to short staff, the Chief and Lieutenant have not stepped up to fill in the gaps. Neither has been trained on procedures such as booking a prisoner in the jail to free up an officer or covering the dispatch phones so the dispatcher could take a simple break during their 12-hour shifts. A written request asking for just that was never responded to. When approached about their unresponsiveness, they both verbally stated that they would not be helping in the jail nor in dispatch. The Chief noted specifically that he does not know how to operate the computer software programs, does not read reports unless they are brought to his attention, and he is not willing to learn how. The Lieutenant simply stated he was “too busy.”
Your police officers have now lost all of their support staff due to this management’s sheer lack of giving a damn. It led to my own departure as dispatch supervisor in October of 2022. Like every other person that left before me, I knew it was necessary to step away from the potential of further moral injury, unaddressed liability, and countless stresses directly caused by current management. The department is running on fumes, it’s almost impossible to hire anybody with the pay and hours, and anyone that is hired quits within a year. The needs, requests, and issues plaguing the police department continue as they do not support the best interest of the department, and I am urging the Assembly to dig into this matter and take action where necessary, because the safety of the citizens of Sitka depends on it.
This problem needs your attention, before someone gets hurt.
Thank you for your time.
Tara Smith, Sitka,
Former Dispatch Supervisor October 2020- October 2022 with fourteen years dispatch experience at the Sitka Police Department
Electrification Expo
Dear Editor: Transition Sitka extends our thanks to everyone who generously participated in Saturday’s Electrification Expo. There were presenters, promoters, housing and home heating specialists, marine technicians, contractors, service providers, EV and e-bike experts, financing advisors, cookie-bakers, sign-makers, and general supporters of helping our community transition to a more sustainable fossil fuel-free future.
Their contributions and expertise helped make the event enjoyable and informative.
Special thanks go to: Efren Arce, Kent Barkhau, Barbara Bingham, Brant Brantman, Christopher Brown, Norm Campbell, Kord Christianson, Janet Clarke, Blake Conaway, Scott Elder, Bri Gabel, Jeff Helem, Mark Houston, Bill Hughes, Derek James, Eric Jordan, Kris Karsunky, Cindy Litman, Pat Magnuson, Ben Matthys, Nan Metashvilli, Dave Nicholls, Chandler O’Connell, Kari Paustian, James Pelletier, Suzanne Portello, Cliff Richter, Andy Romanoff, Lisa Sadleir-Hart, Jasmine Shaw, Ron Waldron, Woody Widmark, Carol Voisin and Michelle Wilber.
Many others supported the event from behind the scenes. We are grateful to all who share their knowledge and help deepen our appreciation for this place and one another.
Transition Sitka Board of Directors:
Toby Campbell, Larry Edwards,
Joel Hanson, Kay Kreiss
and Leah Mason
