05/19/2026
Today was a bitter sweet day for the 911 Center. Dispatcher III Abbey Emmons was awarded with the Dispatcher of the Year 2026. It also happened to be her last day with us, as she is retiring after 27 years of service.
For 27 years, while the rest of the city slept, celebrated holidays, gathered with family, or simply went about their normal lives, she was here answering the call when people needed help most.
Night shifts. Weekends. Storms. Critical incidents. Long hours. Mandatory overtime. The kind of moments most people never see — but moments that matter deeply to the people living through them.
Over the course of a career like this, the numbers become staggering.
Nearly 85,000 hours worked.
More than 14,000 hours of overtime.
Over 1,400 weeks serving this community.
Hundreds of thousands of phone calls and radio transmissions.
Thousands upon thousands of police, fire, and EMS incidents coordinated.
Very few people are capable of doing this work for 27 years. Even fewer can do it with the professionalism, loyalty, compassion, and dedication that she brought to this center every single day.
While many members of the public may never know her name, they have absolutely felt the impact of her service.
And on behalf of this center, the responders she supported, the citizens she helped, and everyone fortunate enough to work beside her —
Thank you for 27 years of extraordinary service.
Congratulations on your retirement!
