Darcy Ziller: one of Cook County’s calm voices on 9-1-1

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, first recognized in 1981 in Costa County in California, has become a national effort. It is a week set aside to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the men and women more commonly known as 9-1-1 dispatchers. These are the people who are considered the Thin Gold Line, working to protect the public behind that line, along with law enforcement and fire services.

National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week is the second week of April each year, so it is April 12-18 in 2020.

The entire month of April is actually special for public safety telecommunicators. In 2008, the U.S. Congress named the month of April as 9-1-1 Education Month, a time for the country to think about our national 9-1-1 system. It is a time to teach young children how to access emergency services.

With that in mind, it seemed like a good time to learn more about life as a public safety telecommunicator, better known in Cook County as a dispatcher/jailer at the Law Enforcement Center. To do that, WTIP reached out to local Dispatcher/Jailer Darcy Ziller who has more than 22 years on the job at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence talked with Darcy about the difficult, but rewarding job.

Rhonda Silence April 16, 2020