Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

Complications of The Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

Anthony Gonzalez

University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley

ENGL 1302

Dr. Marshall Saenz

March 22, 2022

Abstract

This essay I will be sharing, will contain information from articles I have recovered. The hidalgo county
sheriff’s office has had problems with low amounts of employees most likely due to the stress the job
comes with. It will contain studies and statistics that have been made to break down the role of a
communications officers and how stress can have an impact on their lives. I will also discuss some
solutions that have worked in the past and how it can benefit workers. Ultimately if the office has plenty
of workers and less stress the community can potentially benefit from it. Kimley’s article (2018) provides
information of the types of stress disorders presented to dispatchers and how it can affect them. Lilly’s
(2019) and Roberg’s article (1988) provide statistical studies and numbers of how many dispatchers
struggle from stress disorders. Roberg’s article also compares stress levels in comparison to on field
officers. The article from Steinkopf gives us an idea of what dispatchers must deal with and situations
they are presented with.
Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

Complications of The Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

When we think of first responders, we often jump to police officers and detectives. What most people

don’t take in consideration is the communication officers that help keep officers and civilians safe with

just a phone and computer. For years now I have become familiar with a specific working environment.

I have not actually worked there but when my sister began her job working as a communications officer

at the hidalgo county sheriff’s office, I would often have conversations of the environment and obstacles

she would go through. I vividly remember after her first three months she would come home crying and

hyperventilating, I would think to myself how an occupation can be so intense and stressful. Now after

years of her working there I can tell there’s been a huge improvement on her mental health, but there’s

a big problem at the root of the office. It has been extremely hard for them to keep workers due to the

insane amount of stress and burnout that comes from the job.

Literature review

According to Kimley (2018), dispatchers that receive distress calls retain symptoms of PTSD such as

hypervigilance, numbness, poor concentration, and sleep disturbance (pg. 40). Although they do not

necessarily witness the events, they are often the first ones presented with the details. Many times, we

see dispatchers suffer physically and mentally from the burnout they must endure. Most dispatchers can

experience anger outbursts, flashbacks, nightmares, and even alcohol use. Kimley adds that there is a

big number of dispatchers that do not receive methods to treat their PTSD, however as time goes on we

see more of them appear in different law enforcement offices (pg. 40). Other offices have implemented

interventions to help dispatchers cope and deal with their stress disorders.
Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

In Lilly’s article (2019) she explains an analysis of intervention-based experiment to use for emergency

dispatchers struggling with stress disorders. The intervention portion of the experiment allowed

participants to practice meditation. Exercises were made to expand their mindfulness while doing daily

activities and were practiced by participants over a course that takes weeks. Progress was tracked by

surveys weekly of how many times they practiced mindfulness and if it helped with their anxiety. The

result ended up being beneficial to the participants as there was an increase of mindfulness and

decrease of stress. Although the online exercises that were presented did have success it is still believed

that in person interventions and exercises are better recommended. This article helps give future law

enforcement offices inspiration to better their staff for long term success.

In the job burnout article from Roberg (1988). We look on the role and position of an emergency

dispatcher. Dispatchers provide screen information to patrol officers and are often on call listening to

life threatening situations with civilians and officers. In addition, dispatchers can communicate with

other offices to provide information and ask for help to civilians in need of help. When on the phone

with civilians needing help, they can hear information and situations that can be traumatizing. Every call

is different and can potentially influence the mental health of a dispatcher. There’s also a statement

made in this passage that claims dispatchers are often ignored or looked past on burnout cases. Cases

dealing with dispatchers and stress are not investigated as much as dispatchers.

In Steinkopf’s article (2018) we see an analysis and research structure like Lilly’s article (2019). The

difference was to compare the analysis results to other law enforcement groups. The result was

dispatchers could in fact experience stress the same way as other officers and sometimes even more.

When they measured the stress of dispatchers, they found that 24% of participants did in fact have high
Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

levels of stress. Another conclusion made was that majority of the stress build up was not from the

workload but from the lack of organizational support in the office. Emphasizing that organizations

should start improving interventions and pay attention to the mental health of dispatchers.

I had the opportunity to speak personally with a current emergency dispatcher from the hidalgo county

sheriff’s office. Communications officer Ana Gonzalez helped me understand issues and situations of

working in the sheriff’s office. When asked about the workload she responded with “I believe the

amount of responsibility we have translates to the workload we carry, especially without enough people

it takes a toll on most of us.” A main problem with the sheriff’s office is the current number of people

working there has steadily declined over time. “I think most people can not handle the responsibility and

stress”, says Ms. Gonzalez, “on average I see 5 people get hired a month and one out of four actually

stay long term.” The buildup of stress and burnout plays a huge part in the reason why employees do

not stay for long term. This causes a chain reaction which leads to understaffed workplace then leads to

more workload for workers. Another big statement she made was a piece of advice to people who plan

on working as a dispatcher. “If you’re there for only a paycheck, you will not last very long.” Meaning

that the passion and dedication to the craft is very important when working. This mentality is very

important and plays a huge part in the success of the office.

Methodology

I wanted to get an average number of how many employees get hired, how many apply, and how many

stay for long term. I started by asking communications officer Ana Gonzalez to give me an estimate of

the numbers from these categories. She has an important role in the office so her experiences could

really tell a lot to what she sees as the number of staff present. The table below shows the average

numbers at a monthly rate from her experience.

Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

Finding

This study is very quantitative since the situation involves the numbers of employees that work as

dispatchers. Although I did not find public records, a current dispatcher for the hidalgo county sheriffs

office provided an estimate number of employees from experience. Majority of the newly hired do not

make it past 3 months of working or even simply training. We find that more people stay for short term

rather than long term. This can explain and provide a reasoning to the amount of work presented to the

office’s dispatchers. The problem is it is an estimate from someone’s experience working there and not

very accurate. The difficult part was finding public records of applicants and employees’ ratio to a

specific law enforcement office that may not be popular.

# of applicants # of people hired # of long term employees

15 5 1

Discussion

When I started my research, I wanted to know and understand the role of dispatcher’s. From my

research, Roberg’s article (1988), I learned that dispatchers have a vital role in a law enforcement in

communication with people dealing with life threatening situations. Although they are not doing many

hands-on works compared to patrol officers or investigators, I learned that this role can produce stress

levels similar or more than investigators. From a primary source in the form of an interview with an

officer from the sheriff’s office, I learned that the responsibility can often have a negative effect to the

newly hired. When the responsibility gets too much stress builds up to the point where employees give

up and quit. This tends to lead the office to becoming understaffed and makes long term officers

struggle with the workload. This can be meaning that the root of the problem is ultimately the stress the

role of a dispatcher comes with. I also got to understand the feelings a genuine dispatcher has to go
Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

through and given a sense of importance to the community. Even then, articles like Steinkopfs (2018)

and Lilly’s (2019), we see studies of dispatcher’s stress levels. The results showed us that a big

percentage do in fact have irregular levels of stress and can also be from lack of support rather than

workload.

Limitations

When I started looking for articles relating to the sheriff’s office, I could not find one. Because the topic

is very specific, I believe it was harder to find articles relating to the specific topic and location.

One thing that I couldn’t do was to enter the office where dispatchers are located. It’s a very restricted

part of the office due to information that is classified is shared there.

I could not find public records of employees that are hired or have applied. I had inaccurate information

from a person that has experienced the amount of people that come and go from the office.

I wanted to learn some situations that have occurred that have influenced some traumatic memories

but now typing it out it sounds harsh. In the end, I didn’t have the stomach to thoroughly question this

matter

Conclusion

Communications officers have a very important role in law enforcement. When not on the phone

helping civilians receive help their officers are receiving information from them and helping them stay

safe. Potentially a lot of lives are in the hands of dispatchers and how they communicate can influence
Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

the way a situation may lead to. Due to this, stress is a major part of the job. Even in some cases

dispatchers can experience more stress and anxiety than patrol officers. The hidalgo county sheriff’s

office has had problems of low numbers of employees and the root of the problem can potentially be

the workload dispatchers deal with. Law enforcement agencies have an important role in the

community and help keep civilians safe. With intervention programs the hidalgo county sheriff’s office

can gain more employees to prevent the workload dispatchers have to deal with. With that they can

have better success in the community. More programs involve more resources which can act as an

extension to this research.

Complications of the Understaffed Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office

References

Kimley, Kristen E.. (2018). Posttraumatic stress disorder in police, firefighters, and emergency

dispatchers. Posttraumatic stress disorder in police, firefighters, and emergency dispatchers.

Lilly, Michelle. (2019). Destress 9-1-1—an online mindfulness-based intervention in reducing stress

among emergency medical dispatchers: a randomised controlled trial. Occupational and

environmental medicine (London, England).

Roberg, Roy R. (1988). JOB BURNOUT IN LAW ENFORCEMENT DISPATCHERS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.

Elsevier ltd.

Steinkopf, Bryan. (2018). Assessment of Stress and Resiliency in Emergency Dispatchers. New York:

Springer US.