PROCLAMATION

A PROCLAMATION TO DESIGNATE APRIL 14-20, 2002

PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATOR’S WEEK

WHEREAS, each day, millions of Americans dial 9-1-1 for help in emergencies ranging from house fires and automobile accidents to heart attacks, poisonings, and missing children.  The men and women who answer these calls for help, gathering essential information and dispatching the appropriate response, can make the difference between life and death and property loss for persons in need.  Fauquier County 9-1-1 dispatchers are among the more than 500,000 telecommunications specialists nationwide, who work daily to protect and to promote public safety; and

WHEREAS, public safety telecommunicators are more than a calm and reassuring voice on the other end of the phone—they are knowledgeable and skilled individuals who work closely with police, fire, and medical personnel.  They coordinate and manage vital communications in areas such as highway safety, road maintenance, woodland grassland preservation, public utilities, rail and air traffic, plus other services that affect the health and safety of our citizens.  Because emergencies occur around the clock, we rely on the vigilance and the preparedness of these individuals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the employees of the Warrenton-Fauquier Joint Communications Center is to serve the citizens of Fauquier County and their public safety organizations, through the efficient and effective operation of Enhanced 9-1-1 and public safety radio systems by providing a timely and quality emergency response capability to those we serve; and

WHEREAS, the Warrenton-Fauquier Joint Communications Center processed 239,032 emergency and non-emergency calls in 2001, dispatching Sheriff’s Office deputies, Warrenton and Remington Police Department officers, and career and volunteer fire/rescue responders to a combined total of 61,721 requests for service within the six-hundred sixty square miles comprising Fauquier County; now, therefore, be it

            PROCLAIMED, by the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors this 15th day of April 2002, That the Board of Supervisors designates the week of April 14-20, 2002 as Public Safety Telecommunicators Week; and, be it

            PROCLAIMED FURTHER, that the Board of Supervisors authorizes the issuance of a proclamation in observance of this week; and, be it

            PROCLAIMED FINALLY, That the Board of Supervisors invites all citizens to observe this week in honor of all the Telecommunicators, who ANSWER THE CALL and help to protect our health and safety.

                                                                                                ______________________________

Raymond E. Graham

Chairman