29.0°

While brainstorming one day about how to enhance community relations, the Juneau Police department decided it would be valuable to do something like an emergency services version of a "Dear Abby" newspaper column, Lt. Kris Sell said.

The department kicked off the "Ask a Dispatcher" program on its Web site this week that allows people to pose questions to dispatchers that do not rise to the level of a 9-1-1 call. The dispatchers pull from their vast knowledge and experience or are able to research the answer and then post it on the World Wide Web.

"It's the people who have the information here talking to the public, like we would tell things to our own family," Sell said.

The dispatchers field a plethora of calls each day that cover a broad scope of community issues. Some of them are non-emergency calls that could potentially divert resources from someone experiencing a real emergency, Sell said.

"As I sit here and listen to dispatch, it's like they are the air traffic controllers," she said. "Every personal, legal, criminal and emergency issue comes up. When people don't know who to call they call the police department. So we need to do something with that."

Many of the calls they field turn out to be "quality of life issues" that people might need addressed but might not know exactly where to direct the call, Sell said. Sometimes the dispatcher simply provides contact information for another agency that can assist the person, she said.

"If 9-1-1 is going off and people are screaming and cops are running code, that's really not the time for us to talk about the barking dog," Sell said. "So we would like to answer that at a different time, and maybe this will make us more accessible to those people that are concerned that they are going to catch us when somebody else needs our attention more."

The first three questions and answers were posted on the Web site Thursday, which included a question about illegal parking, a seatbelt ticket and disposable breathalyzers. The answers are informative but also engaging, with the question about breathalyzers earning praise from the questioner for their sense of responsibility.

The answer discusses the "expensive and calibrated" breathalyzers the police use that will hold up in court, as well providing cost estimates on portable breath tests. While discussing the cheap, disposable tests the dispatcher quips, "I'd take the results with a grain of hops."

The dispatchers have a combined knowledge of more than 50 years experience to draw from that includes just about every community issue imaginable, Sell said.

Lead dispatcher Margie Ramos has 25 years of experience. The job can be intense at times and slow at others while dealing with police, fire and medical emergency related calls, she said.

"We actually have a pretty varied job," Ramos said. "We also field calls often times that pertain to city and borough-wide issues."

The dispatchers don't have the answers to all the questions they are asked and sometimes are there as resources or referrals for people, she said.

"I think (Ask a Dispatcher) will give the community access to the police department," Ramos said. "They may have a basic question. You don't always have to be in crisis or be a victim in a crime."

The department may edit some of the questions for brevity as well as to ensure it is family-appropriate content.

There is an icon on the right side of the department's Web site at www.juneaupolice.com that links to the questions and answers. This is just the latest way the department has worked to reach out to the public through its Web site. Press releases, the daily blotter, a variety of frequently used forms, a link to the department's Twitter page and other useful information are all available on the site.

The new program also has adopted its own slogan, which is "Don't call 9-1-1 for the 4-1-1, but do 'Ask a Dispatcher.'"

• Contact reporter Eric Morrison at 523-2269 or eric.morrison@juneauempire.com.