Dispatch Priming
April 28, 2025
Westminster Emergency Operations Center
8200 Westminster Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683
8am - 5pm
Hosted by the Westminster Police Department
CA POST Certified:
#1345-31042-24-006
This course is eligible for ATA reimbursement through CALOES
$299.00
Target Audience:
Police dispatchers and call takers. Also open to sworn law enforcement officers.
Get an in-depth look into dispatch priming and the complex cognitive processes affecting dispatchers and call takers.
Researchers have only recently begun to study the complex phenomenon of dispatch priming. There isn’t a universally accepted definition. Dispatch priming includes how dispatchers present information to an officer and how that influences how the officer thinks about and responds to a call for service. Said differently, the delivery, tone, and experience of a dispatcher can influence first responder behavior.
This course provides call takers and dispatchers with tools to avoid complacency and bias and thereby help officers in the field make good decisions. Join us for an in-depth look into dispatch priming and the complex cognitive processes affecting dispatchers and call takers.
In this course, you will:
- Learn what you can control and what you can’t
- Examine the positive and negative aspects of bias and heuristics
- Learn about the science of decision-making & the psychology of communication
Instructor Kristy Dorton is an active-duty dispatcher with the Sacramento Police Department and a California POST Master Instructor. Kristy has studied the complexities of dispatch priming and designed this course to help fellow dispatchers understand the positive and negative aspects of priming.
Payment Methods
Once you enter the student information below and click "Register", you will be taken to a checkout page where you can pay using a credit card, or you may request that an invoice be sent to your department that can be paid online or by check and sent by mail. Please note that invoices incur a $15.00 non-refundable processing fee.
36 in stock