Dispatcher of the Year Maribel Almazan and Chief George Crum at the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce Awards for Coachella Valley Public Safety on November 24, 2015.
An excerpt from Dispatch Supervisor Gale Roberts’ nomination read: Dispatcher Maribel Almazan is a remarkable employee who demonstrates initiative and seeks additional ways to serve the department, such as requesting training to enable her to merge our local contacts. Since that training she has been merging local contacts whenever the system sends us an email alerting us to the fact that a merge is necessary. Her efforts in this area were entirely voluntarily and without any prompting from supervision. Maribel has become a leader in the Dispatch center. She is a Communications Training Officer and has trained our newest Dispatchers working with new dispatchers to assist in the development of the skills necessary to serve the public.
In August of 2015 Maribel received a call regarding the sexual assault of a child.
Maribel did an outstanding job regarding this sexual assault case involving a young victim. Maribel received the initial phone call from the victim’s mother and dispatched the call to the patrol units. This was a very sensitive issue which required tact and sensitivity. Maribel gathered pertinent information in a very professional manner; her call notes were excellent and easy to understand. She dispatched the units to the scene and continued to update call notes as the investigation progressed. Maribel worked day shift and this call continued on for several hours into night shift, when the officers forced entry and located the suspect who had committed suicide.
Maribel is an excellent Dispatcher and her handling of this particular incident highlights her professionalism, attention to detail and the precise demeanor she demonstrates in critical incidents.