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Customer Service Training: Why not Police Dispatchers
Metro Digest: From the Metro Edition of the Providence Journal, 7-12-05.
A long overdue move to provide customer service training to city employees is underway. According to the Journal, Mayor Cicilline said that the goal was to improve interpersonal skills and skill in dealing with difficult situations in order to deliver better service. The DPW, Tax Collector’s Office, and the ONS were among the departments participating.
The public applauds this move to recognize a long overdue and needed correction.
However, the Police Dispatchers remain the city personnel who exhibit the direst need for customer service training. The way some of them speak to the public is an insult and embarrassment to the City of Providence.
They still try to give the impression that they are police officers when in fact they are civilians who answer the phone and pass the calls on to the police department.
Essentially they function as an in-bound tele-marketing operation, much as a customer service center does for any private business operation. No private sector company would tolerate the level of rudeness and ineptitude exhibited on a daily basis by some of these dispatchers.
And if you think we are unhappy with these dispatchers, you should speak with some of the police officers who have to deal with them as part of their job.
I hesitate to paint them all with the same broad brush, for I’ve spoken with some who are top notch professionals, but all in all the department needs a serious overhaul.
The taxpayers of Providence deserve courtesy and respect when dealing with City Employees.
John Twomey
Posted at July 12, 2005 09:31 AM