One of the things that I love about the job that I do is getting out and about and meeting folks here in the Amarillo community you may not get to know and hearing about what they do for a living and what they see including their war stories and after talking to a 9-1-1 operator, I came away with a new appreciation for their job.

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They are truly unsung heroes.

A police dispatcher working at console
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911 Operators are the ultimate multitaskers, They are certified by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) in law enforcement codes, certified in first aid and CPR and can also perform the functions of data entry and dispatch under extreme pressure. Let's face it. When you call 911, you're not calling to chat about your day (and please don't. each line could be a major issue) . Operators will tell you they see people at their worst point.

The calls aren't always emergencies

The wonderful dispatcher I spoke with at the Amarillo Job Fair talked about folks who call in about cats, wanting to know the weather, what time the next parade starts or even just out of sheer loneliness. She mentioned that on occasion she has been a sounding board just for someone who wanted to get something off their chest (if you want to do this, podcasting could be for you)

Amarillo Needs 311

11 Cases Of Dengue Fever Diagnosed In Key Largo, FL
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Sometimes you just want to call about Mosquitos in your yard and you need vector control, or a dog catcher, Perhaps you're the person calling 911 about the bus? These are all things that a 311 system could handle and surprisingly Amarillo is one of the largest cities in the state that does not currently have such a system. These systems are customer service systems that get every department in a much more accessible spot for citizens and if it happens to be something that needs to be escalated they can easily make the transfer if needed.

False Starts

The city has had a few false starts with getting 311 established back in 2016 at the time Councilmain Nair even told the press

"It will make 911 more efficient, effective, It will give people a good way of getting information. It's just 311. It's easy to dial. And a lot of other cities have this kind of dichotomy."

 

So what happened? What do we need to do to get this system going? Was it a funding thing? Granted we have to spend money fixing stupid things like kids vandalizing splashpads but something like this shouldn't have been cut. I sincerely hope for the sake of getting stuff done that the city can look into getting this back on track

Speaking of calling for help, if you see any of these folks or know anything about one of these mysteries below, your help could solve a mystery

Unsolved Murders of Amarillo, Texas

These are the unsolved murders of Amarillo, Texas.

If you have any information or if you know something, call Amarillo Crime Stoppers at 806-374-4400. 

Amarillo On 'America's Most Wanted'

I was surprised to find out recently that we also have a bit of a history with the show America's Most Wanted.

Digging through old news articles, I found several separate occasions where Amarillo and America's Most Wanted crossed paths. It makes me wonder if there are some that I've missed.

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