10/05/2026
10/5/26 - 0800 hours. Press release.
PENCOM 9-1-1
Port Angeles Police Department, City of Port Angeles
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2026
PenCom 9-1-1 Celebrates a Community of Firsts and Continued Progress for Public Safety Telecommunicators
PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Peninsula Communications (PenCom 9-1-1), the Port Angeles Police Department and the City of Port Angeles are proud to recognize the professionalism, commitment, and essential public-safety role of its telecommunicators—and to celebrate Port Angeles and Washington State’s continuing leadership in advancing the 9-1-1 profession.
Public Safety Telecommunicators are often the first voice a person hears during an emergency. They provide calm direction, collect critical information, coordinate police, fire, and medical response, and remain connected with callers during some of the most difficult moments in their lives. Their work is central to effective emergency response and public safety.
Port Angeles has been a community of firsts in recognizing that role.
On November 17, 2020, the Port Angeles City Council formally proclaimed PenCom 9-1-1 Telecommunicators as First Responders. This designation was the first of its kind in Washington State. It affirmed what the public-safety community has long known: 9-1-1 professionals are an indispensable part of the emergency-response system.
That local recognition helped establish a trajectory of progress that has extended statewide.
Port Angeles Police Department, Deputy Director Karl Hatton is responsible for the direction and management of PenCom 9-1-1. He is co-chair of the Washington Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-National Emergency Number Association (Washington APCO-NENA) Public and Government Affairs Committee. Deputy Director Hatton worked with local legislator and prime sponsor Senator Kevin Van De Wege and partners statewide to advance legislation strengthening the public safety telecommunicator profession. In 2022, Washington enacted the Public Safety Telecommunicator Training and Certification bill, establishing statewide professional training and certification requirements.
The following year, the Public and Government Affairs Committee (with Senator Van De Wege as the prime sponsor) advanced legislation that improved retirement eligibility for public safety telecommunicators across Washington. The change allows telecommunicators to retire five years earlier than under the previous retirement system—an important recognition of the demanding nature of this essential profession.
Deputy Director Hatton also serves on the Washington State Public Safety Telecommunicator Certification Board and has contributed to the development of rules allowing community colleges to provide basic public safety telecommunicator training. With support from the State Emergency Communications Office, Hatton has adapted the State’s two public safety telecommunicator training programs into an asynchronous pre-certification curriculum. Peninsula College will begin offering the program during Winter Quarter 2027.
This will be the first public safety telecommunicator pre-certification program offered through a community college in Washington and will establish a sustainable local and statewide pathway for future public safety telecommunicators.
“This work reflects a shared commitment to treating public safety telecommunicators as the highly trained professionals they are,” says Hatton. “From the City Council’s first-in-state recognition of telecommunicators as first responders to statewide certification, retirement reform, and new education pathways, our community has helped build meaningful progress for both the current and future 9-1-1 workforce.”
PenCom 9-1-1 extends its appreciation to the Port Angeles City Council, City staff leadership, PenCom 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicators, Washington APCO-NENA, the State Emergency Communications Office, Peninsula College, Senator Van De Wege, and the Washington State Legislature. These partnerships have helped maintain a continuous trajectory of progress that supports recruitment, retention, professional development, and long-term service delivery.
Like many emergency communications centers nationwide, PenCom 9-1-1 experienced significant staffing shortages beginning in 2020. Through the dedication of its staff and the sustained support of local and state partners, PenCom 9-1-1 is now fully staffed and positioned to build on that progress.
PenCom 9-1-1 also looks ahead to the new Joint Public Safety Facility being constructed near Fairchild International Airport. The state-of-the-art facility is being designed specifically for 9-1-1 operations and will provide the PenCom 9-1-1 professional staff with the space, technology, and operational resilience needed to serve the community well into the future.
The facility will also be shared with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Operations Center. Co-locating these critical functions will strengthen coordination, situational awareness, and decision-making—particularly during emergency activations, when close coordination between 9-1-1 operations and emergency management is essential to providing a meaningful and effective response to the community.
PenCom 9-1-1 remains committed to professional excellence, continuous improvement, and ensuring that every caller receives the skilled, compassionate and timely assistance they deserve.
Learn More and Career Opportunities
PenCom 9-1-1 is a division of the Port Angeles Police Department and serves 17 public safety user agencies in Clallam County.
Interested in a career as a PenCom 9-1-1 Communications Officer? Learn more about the position and submit an application through the City of Port Angeles employment page: www.cityofpa.us/Jobs/JobDetails/10?Mobile=On
You can also explore other employment opportunities with the City of Port Angeles at cityofpa.us/Jobs.aspx
Media Contact
PenCom 9-1-1
Port Angeles Police Department
Deputy Director Karl Hatton ([email protected]) 360 417 4911.
The Port Angeles Police Department is continuously recruiting for this position to build an eligibility list for future openings.
