Departments | Sheriff | In the News
Veteran dispatcher looks forward to supervising joint city-county center
Article written by Bob Link and used with permission from the Globe Gazette, published on Monday, April 10, 2006.
MASON CITY - The first time Pam Ricke attempted to get involved in law enforcement she was successful.
"It was in Algona in 1974," Ricke said. "I walked in and filled out an application. They looked at it, said 'you're hired, sit down because you're going to work.' "
A dispatcher at the Algona Police Department had quit and Ricke was at the right place at the right time. She has been involved in law enforcement nearly continuously ever since, working stints as a jailer and part-time police officer to the lead dispatcher for the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department for the past four years.
Ricke, 54, has recently been named the supervisor of the newly formed joint communication center. It will bring five dispatchers from Cerro Gordo County and 10 dispatchers from the Mason City Police Department into the building.
"It's a big project," Ricke said of the joint communication center. "And really there will be two major moves. First we will bring the police department dispatchers into our dispatch center and blend the effort. Then, in a year from now, we will be moving to a new building when the new jail is completed."
Ricke said she has always enjoyed her work. And with the exception of a couple of years when she took a break from law enforcement to raise her children, she has been involved since taking the Algona dispatch position.
She worked at the Mason City Police Department in the late 1970s then held positions in Hampton and Sheffield, both as a dispatcher and as a part-time police officer.
In her 19 years at the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department she worked both on the jail staff as a dispatcher and was named by Sheriff Kevin Pals as the lead dispatcher.
Ricke feels her experience will be a benefit as the communications supervisor.
"I have to know the rules and how dispatching is done," she said. "Having done the job, it definitely will be to my benefit."
Ricke said working as a dispatcher is a stressful job. "We're the backbone of law enforcement. We're the first person to take a call. You hear the people's fear and anger. And when you're doing it, you just get into the job. But after it's over and the officers are taking care of it, there's sometimes a lot of emotion."
She said dispatchers from both departments have the same training and equipment. "Everyone knows their jobs," she said. "One of the challenges will be blending the personalities."
Ricke said combining the two agencies' policies and schedules is one of the immediate challenges.
"It will be a big change for everyone," she said of the joint center. "And not everyone likes change. It is my goal to make the transition as smooth as possible."
Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals called Ricke a dedicated and knowledgeable asset.
"Not only was she the lead dispatcher here, she was the union steward and I think she did a real good job," he said. "She takes her work very seriously."
"All her experience is going to help her in her new position," he said. "Pam is the kind of person who just wants things done right - that is a good thing for all involved, the employees who she will be supervising and the people she is working for."
Mason City Police Chief Dave Ellingson said he hasn't worked directly with Ricke, but has been on some of the same organizing committees that she has been involved with.
"She is very capable," he said. "From what I've seen in various planning efforts, she has been very active and very capable."
Ricke and her husband, Paul, live in Sheffield. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren.
The new communication supervisor noted that April 9-15 is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.
"I'd like to acknowledge everyone who receives and dispatches emergency calls to law enforcement and EMS providers and thank them for a job well done."
