Dispatcher - Part Time (Pool)

City of Wauwatosa; Wauwatosa (WI); On-site; USD 43,000 - 48,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

On-site fitness centers

Job summary

City of Wauwatosa is seeking a Dispatcher to support Police, Fire, and Medical Services. The role handles emergency and non-emergency calls, taxes on priority dispatch protocols, and coordinates multi-agency responses from a 911 communications center.

Hours are not guaranteed and include weekends/holidays; minimum 20 hours per month, with shifts across 7:00–3:24, 3:00–11:24, and 11:00–7:24. Competitive pay and benefits are provided.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum of one year of experience as a Police Department dispatcher preferred.
• Minimum of one year of experience in administrative support and/or customer service including extensive customer service interaction preferred.

Responsibilities

• Responds promptly to emergency operations by receiving and assessing incoming calls to determine the level of emergency and to verify the incident is within the City’s jurisdiction.
• Effectively interviews calls to determine the type of response needed.
• Assesses medical calls and provides post-dispatch instructions and pre-arrival instructions based on the Priority Dispatch System Protocols.
• Transfers callers to extensions or other agencies when needed or requested.
• Dispatches the appropriate City assets as needed while gathering additional information on the phones.
• Monitors and responds to multiple local radio frequencies, including surrounding agencies, and informs police and fire department personnel of activity when needed.
• Coordinates multi-jurisdictional incidents, including mutual aid requests for emergency assets from other jurisdictions.
• Enters calls into the Computer Aided Dispatch system, categorizes and assigns the proper resource(s) to respond.

Skills

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Independent work

Teamwork

Keyboarding

Stress management

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Wisconsin TIME teletype system

Job description

A Dispatcher provides valuable services to the community by receiving, assessing, prioritizing, and responding to incoming calls of an emergency/non-emergency nature via phone, radio, or otherwise, for Wauwatosa Police, Fire, and Medical Services. They provide customer service to a variety of callers every day and handle basic public inquiries, emergency communications, and operates police/fire/medical radio operations.

The part-time position functions similarly to a Pool position, where hours are not guaranteed. However, a minimum of 20 hours per month is required to maintain the necessary skill levels. Hours of work as needed would include weekends and holidays. Holiday hour minimums are required – a minimum of 16 hours across the major holidays and 8 hours across the minor holidays annually. Major holidays include Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and Independence Day.

Applicants must be able to work flexible schedules, including events, holidays, weekends, and odd-shift assignments when required. Applicants must also be willing to work on all of the three shifts: 1st shift (7:00-3:24 pm), 2nd shift (3:00-11:24 pm), and 3rd shift (11:00 pm-7:24 am).

The starting pay range for this position is $31.16-34.62 per hour, with starting salary determined on qualifications and professional experience. Further increases to the top of the salary band, which is $39.81 for 2026, will be based on performance.

The City of Wauwatosa provides an excellent benefits package, on-site fitness centers, meaningful work, and more!

The following duties are primarily performed and are essential for this position. Employees are expected to be able to perform each of these job duties satisfactorily and successfully to be qualified for the position. Other duties may be required and assigned.

• Responds promptly to emergency operations by receiving and assessing incoming calls to determine the level of emergency and to verify the incident is within the City’s jurisdiction.
• Effectively interviews calls to determine the type of response needed.
• Assesses medical calls and provides post-dispatch instructions and pre-arrival instructions based on the Priority Dispatch System Protocols.
• Transfers callers to extensions or other agencies when needed or requested, contacts appropriate or requested resources to respond to incidents or assist with an in-progress incident.
• Dispatches the appropriate City assets as needed while gathering additional information on the phones.
• Monitors and responds to multiple local radio frequencies, including surrounding agencies, and informs police and fire department personnel of activity when needed.
• Coordinates multi-jurisdictional incidents, including mutual aid requests for emergency assets from other jurisdictions.

Dispatcher

• Enters calls into the Computer Aided Dispatch system, categorizes and assigns the proper resource(s) to respond. Maintains and provides a summary of incidents in progress for police and fire command staff and updates as directed.
• Provides support for police and fire units in the field via radio, phone, or otherwise, using the Wisconsin TIME teletype system to access confidential and sensitive information from local, county, state, and national databases.
• Updates and maintains the informational resources that are utilized during each shift, such as computer files, schedules, addresses, address flags, phone numbers, business key holders, and equipment logs.
• Conducts in-depth searches using an in-house database, state and national records, and other websites for both field and follow-up investigations.
• Monitors cameras inside and outside both police and fire department buildings, monitors booking room and prisoner holding cells when in use, monitors Department of Transportation traffic cameras located within the city and FLOCK cameras.

Education and Experience Requirements

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum of one year of experience as a Police Department dispatcher preferred.
• Minimum of one year of experience in administrative support and/or customer service including extensive customer service interaction preferred.

Licenses, Certifications, and Other Requirements

• Priority Dispatch Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) Certification and CPR Certifications at time of hire preferred; or must be obtained before completing all training phases.

In order to perform the functions and responsibilities of the position (listed above) the following knowledge, skills, and abilities are essential.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team, exercising judgement, initiative, and resourcefulness.
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to control a conversation with a caller who is under stress, assess situations accurately and quickly, and effectively interview the caller to obtain needed information.
• Ability to respond promptly to emergency operations, perform multiple tasks simultaneously, and function in a sustained stressful environment and remain calm.
• Ability to provide truthful and accurate written and verbal communications.
• Maintains the ability to competently and credibly testify in court.
• Must be able to learn and utilize geographical areas of Wauwatosa, including common landmarks.
• Competent use of office computers including, but not limited to, Microsoft Office Suite (Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook) etc.
• Advanced proficiency in keyboarding.
• Ability to work a varied and flexible schedule, including any of three shifts (1st Shift: 7:00 am – 3:24 pm, 2nd Shift: 3:00 pm – 11:24 pm, 3rd Shift: 11:00 pm – 7:24 am).

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, twist and reach. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is also regularly required to talk and hear, in person, in meetings and by telephone. They will need to interact with city management, employees, other governmental officials, contractors, vendors, employees and the public; read and interpret data, information and documents; analyze and solve problems. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk and reach with hands and arms. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. The employee must be able to safely lift and carry up to 10 pounds occasionally.

Work Environment

Work is performed in a 911 communications center.

Training Process

• Majority of training for the position is completed on the floor in a live environment.
• Training for a part-time employee averaging 20 hours a week takes a minimum of 6 months to complete. Average time to complete training is approximately one year.
• Training schedule will vary on a monthly basis. Training will occur on all three shifts, including a power shift (11am-7pm), with some assignments on 3rd shift.
• Due to individual training needs, the schedule may change with short notice.
• Upon completion of formal training, solo trainee may be moved to a temporary shift to reinforce skills before being assigned to a permanent shift.

Hiring Process

• Screening Process: Applications will be screened based on the minimum and preferred qualifications. Candidates with the required education and experience most directly related to the position will be contacted via email to participate in the pre-employment test stage. Candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements will be sent a notification.
• Testing: Qualified candidates will be invited to complete the CritiCall test. CritiCall is a computer-based test that simulates a generic dispatch environment and is designed to measure the abilities and skills critical for public safety dispatchers such as multitasking, prioritization, map reading, memory recall, comprehension, and data entry. CritiCall is an online link and qualified candidates will have 10 days to complete.
• Panel Interview: Selected candidates will be invited in for a panel interview with members from the Police, Fire Department, and HR. During the interview, candidates will be asked a set of standardized questions focused on job-related competencies.
• Job Preview: Final candidate(s) will participate in a job preview to gain a more detailed understanding of job duties and requirements. The job preview will be organized by the Dispatch Supervisor and may include a tour, job shadowing, group meetings, etc.
• Conditional Job Offer/Background Investigation: Final candidate(s) will be given a conditional offer and will begin the background portion of recruitment. Applicant(s) will be subjected to a complete law enforcement background check including reference and criminal history checks. An average background investigation can take 3-6 weeks. It is expected that any needed documentation will be provided by the applicant to the investigator in a timely and complete manner.