DOCJT Public Safety Dispatch Academy Class 124 Graduates

Twenty-three law enforcement dispatchers graduated Friday, March 15, 2019, from the Public Safety Dispatch Academy (PSDA) at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training.

The graduates hail from communications centers across the commonwealth, and comprise DOCJT’s 124th PSDA class. The dispatch academy first began in 1999.

The students graduating from PSDA represent the successful completion of a highly structured and comprehensive curriculum. The five weeks of training consisted of 205 hours of academy instruction to satisfy mandated training requirements.

Major training areas included identifying the role and responsibilities of the dispatcher, correct phone and radio procedures, handling emergency and non-emergency calls for service, emergency medical dispatch protocols and use of the state and national criminal databases.

This class included seven trainees of distinction. To earn this recognition, a student must not fail any tested area, not receive any disciplinary action, earn an evaluation rating of acceptable in every observed category and score an average of 95 percent or higher on all academic tests. Students who achieve this distinction are given a special academy pin to wear on their uniforms.

Additionally, Lexington Enhanced 911 Dispatcher Paul Overbey received the academic achievement award and Dispatcher Thelma Hargis, also of Lexington Enhanced 911, received the outstanding portfolio award.

Dispatch basic training is mandatory for any sworn or civilian employee who will dispatch law enforcement officers by radio at a Criminal Justice Information Systems agency. DOCJT also provides in-service and leadership training for Kentucky public safety dispatchers and law enforcement officers.

DOCJT is a state agency located on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus. The agency is the first in the nation to be accredited under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies’ public safety training program designation. DOCJT also earned accreditation through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training in 2013.

Class 124 graduates and their agencies are:

Erika LeAnn Allen
Bullitt County Dispatch

Tiffany Brianne Austin
Boone County Public Safety Communications Center

Crystal L. Barnett
Morehead Police Department

Lindsay Bryant
Madisonville/Hopkins County Central Dispatch

Tisha R. Chestnut
Campbell County Consolidated Dispatch Center
(Trainee of Distinction)

Bobby J. Edwards
Monticello/Wayne County 911

Danielle Garcia-Evans
Bracken County 911
(Trainee of Distinction)

Thelma C. Hargis
Lexington Enhanced 911

Theresa Marie Latham
Trigg County E-911

Bryson T. Lawson
Whitley County E-911

Antron L. Masden
Lexington Enhanced 911
(Trainee of Distinction)

Crystal McCullaugh
Hancock County E-911

Brannen McDonald
Boone County Public Safety Communications Center
(Trainee of Distinction)

McKenna Beth Meredith
Bowling Green Police Department
(Trainee of Distinction)

Lindsey N. Noltkamper
Warren County Sheriff’s Office

Paul W. Overbey
Lexington Enhanced 911
(Trainee of Distinction)

LeDona Carol Sanford
Bowling Green Police Department

Jonathan Edward Spradlin
Prestonsburg Police Department

Jessica Valene Stivers
University of Louisville Police Department

Devin Williams
Campbellsville Police Department

Summer L. Williams
Madisonville/Hopkins County Central Dispatch

Nickolas Evan Wilt
Oldham County Dispatch
(Trainee of Distinction)

Christina Withrow
Pendleton County Dispatch