Communications Division

The MTSU PD Communications Center is located just beyond the main entrance of the Police Department in the Public Safety Building . The Communications Center is staffed 24-hours a day, everyday. The Department currently employs one (1) full-time communication operator. The remaining staff is made up of part-time student operators. All of our operators have been NCIC/TCIC (National Crime Information Center/Tennessee Crime Information Center) and APCO (Association of Public Communication Officials) trained and certified. The Communications Center is under the supervision of Administrative Lieutenant Jim Fanguy.

The Communications Center is responsible for a variety of emergency and non-emergency call taking to dispatching police officers to calls of service.  Our operators have been trained to determine what type of response needs to be sent based on the caller's response to the operator's questions. Duties of our communication operators include: 

·         Receive incoming calls for assistance 

·         Prioritize requests for assistance 

·         Maintain and operate police radios 

·         Assist walk-ins 

·         Dispatch police officers and other emergency services, when necessary 

·         Maintain the status of police officers in the field 

·         Operate criminal justice computer systems (NCIC/TCIC) that provide officers with critical criminal offender and other record information 

·         File and maintain criminal justice entries, information and logs 

·         Operate computerized dispatch (Computer Aided Dispatch or CAD) 

·         Maintain daily activities summary log 

·         Monitors various alarm system for campus locations 

·         Routinely test the tornado warning  system according to schedule

In most cases, the communication operator is the first contact a person has with the MTSU Police Department. They become the first impression of this Department therefore their professionalism becomes very important. When someone calls for service the operator must obtain the caller's name, his/her call back number, location and nature of the call, obtain information that will assist the responding officer(s) in apprehension and officer safety information. 

As you can see, the communication operators do much more than answer the phones. Their ability to remain calm and professional during periods of intense stress is essential to the completion of their duties and to the safety of all patrol personnel.