Article written by Alexa Selter, senior and Communication and Marketing Assistant for DPS
Before an officer ever sets foot on the scene, before help is ever on the way, there is a voice. It asks where you are, keeps you calm, and quietly manages the chaos so you don’t have to. That voice belongs to the team inside Syracuse University Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communications Center, and most of us never think about them until we need them.
This week, we do.
What Is Public Safety Telecommunications Week?
National Public Safety Telecommunications Week is observed each year during the second full week of April, honoring the dispatchers and telecommunicators who serve as the critical link between the public and emergency responders. These are the professionals who answer every call, coordinate every response, and keep information flowing in real time, often while managing multiple emergencies at once. It is a role that rarely makes headlines, but one that quietly underpins everything public safety does.
What Is the ECC?
The Emergency Communications Center (ECC) at Syracuse University Department of Public Safety is, in the words of Bailey Pattillo, a public safety dispatcher at SU DPS, “kind of like a nerve center — so everything comes in here for the most part.”
Operating around the clock, the ECC handles everything from lockouts and lost items to mental health crises and large-scale emergencies. On any given shift, ECC staff answer phones, manage radio communications with personnel in the field, and handle “data” such as monitoring cameras, tracking alarms, and pulling background information.
The ECC coordinates a significant amount of information, and the coordination is not only to DPS staff and administrators, but also to other Syracuse University Departments/Units, community members outside of Syracuse, NY, Syracuse City agencies, which are a direct reflection of how integrated SU’s communications system has become.
How It’s Changed: The Evolution of SU’s ECC
Pattillo has been with the ECC for nearly five years, and in that time, she’s watched the center’s capabilities grow considerably, particularly when it comes to technology.
The integration goes beyond the SU campus. The ECC shares a unified CAD system with Onondaga County, meaning dispatchers can see county calls and county agencies can see SU’s. For example, “If we are responding to a fire, I can immediately include all entities that need to be involved, without making additional phone calls. While the responders are coming to campus, we continue to add details so everyone responding is equipped with the latest information ” Pattillo said. A dedicated radio channel in the center also allows ECC staff to monitor city communications, keeping tabs on any large-scale events that might affect the SU community.
The People Behind the Headset
Pattillo didn’t start in a dispatch center. She spent four years as a police officer in Georgia before relocating to New York to be closer to family. When she arrived, a position opened in the ECC, and though it wasn’t the road she’d originally planned, she found this footing quickly.
“As far back as I remember, I always wanted to be a police officer, and I got to do that,” she said. “But building a rapport with the community is probably one of the most important things in public safety that you can do.”
What she didn’t anticipate was how much the job would reshape her understanding of the work. As an officer, she could calm someone down by interacting with them physically. In the ECC, she only has one tool: her voice. “If I stay calm, the caller is more likely to stay calm,” she said. “That’s pretty much the one tool we can use — our voice, our tone, and how we relay information.”
The most rewarding moments, she said, are when the call works out. “When you have a concerned parent who calls, whose kid has gone through something… they’re up here by themselves, and we’re able to connect with them and get them the proper resources.”
But it’s not without its challenges. One of the most persistent misconceptions, she says, is that dispatchers have a “crystal ball” — that with all their resources, answers are immediate and outcomes are guaranteed. “It takes a lot more groundwork than I think people realize, and sometimes, we can’t resolve a situation with just a phone call. she said.
What Every SU Student Should Know
If you ever need to call DPS in an emergency, Pattillo has one piece of advice above all others: tell us where you are first.
“I can’t get anybody to you if I don’t know where you are,” she said. “In an emergency, the first thing I need to know is where you are. I can figure out what’s going on later, but where?”
She also asks for patience with the process. Dispatchers are often managing multiple calls simultaneously, and they’d have to triage calls by life-saving type or highest impact to Syracuse University first, sometimes without the caller even realizing it. Staying as calm as possible and listening to the questions being asked will always help move things faster.
“When someone calls about a person who’s down, I need to establish three critical things right away,” Pattillo explained. “First, is the person injured? Second, did someone else cause that injury? And third, is that person still on scene? Those answers dictate any follow-up questions I ask and how we respond. If it’s a medical emergency, we send medical help. If someone caused the injury and they’re still there, it’s a different type of response—our officers need to know what they’re responding to so they can help safely and effectively.”
More Than a Job
When asked what Public Safety Telecommunications Week means to her personally, Pattillo didn’t hesitate: “Doing the most I can with what little information I have.”
It’s a phrase that captures the ECC in a sentence. No road presence. No physical intervention. Just information, coordination, and a voice that shows up, every shift, every call, to be the calm in someone else’s storm.
To the entire SU DPS ECC team: thank you for the work you do every single day. Happy Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
