The APCO Young Professionals Taskforce recognizes Zachary Dykes as this quarter’s young professional spotlight. Zachary serves as a Communications Operator with the Missouri State Highway Patrol at their office in Springfield, MO. As a state agency, their call load is predominantly centered around traffic complaints, but they do occasionally handle criminal complaints and render assistance to other area agencies.
Zachary has been in the communications field for 11 years, 7½ of which he has served with his current agency. Zachary originally had his hopes set on becoming a police officer like his uncle, who was a sergeant at the local police department, but six weeks into his academy he realized that communications was a better fit for him. A typical day for Zachary would involve being assigned to either desk, radio or special assignments for training purposes. The most enjoyable part of his job is being able to take calls that require the use of the various skill sets that he has acquired over the past 11 years. In addition to his job, Zachary also has commitments with APCO national, Missouri APCO, the Missouri Professional Training Partnership and the Missouri Public Safety Communications Conference.
“Public safety communications has been and continues to be my only chosen career field.”
Zachary believes that, at their core, every person in public safety communications is a helper wanting to make a positive impact on their community. While some people enter communications as a stepping stone to other public safety professions, others fall in love with the job and make it into a career. Zachary’s own journey to become a police officer taught him that he was good at being a communicator and that his personal contribution to the community would be greater from behind a dispatch desk. His job provided him with the opportunity to join the Missouri Professional Training Partnership, where he has been able to serve as an instructor to help provide low-to-no cost training to agencies in Missouri. Through this position, he has developed a love of researching and developing continuing education courses that are available throughout his entire state.
Zachary aspires to achieve a full-time training position to continue to fuel his passion but is keeping an open mind for other positions that he may be interested in should they become available. While Zachary has found his calling in communications, he believes that most young professionals leave the job due to a general lack of mental health resources. The daily stress of this profession can wear on even the strongest of professionals and, without access to coping skills and mental health resources, many of those professionals will leave the industry. He does believe that as an industry we are making strides to resolve this disparity, but currently still believes it is a major contributing factor to why people leave the profession.
On issues that plague young professionals in the industry, Zachary notes that sometimes older co-workers can be dismissive of younger staff members. He says that the “we have always done it this way” mentality can be very damaging to a young professional seeking to be an equal contributor to their agency. He believes that agencies that want to attract young professionals who want to stay for longer durations should focus on making sure that they feel like part of the team. Zachary also cites opportunity for growth and advancement along with competitive wages and benefits as key contributors to the time that young professionals stay in the job.
Zachary encourages anyone new to the communications profession to prioritize their own mental health from the beginning of their career. Do not hold things in; learn and use your resources! Zachary also encourages them to find their footing. He urges all new dispatchers to make sure that they take the job seriously and strive to be a true professional. Invest more than just time; become involved with more than just the work behind the console. Zachary concluded his interview wanting to encourage all young communications professional to “Get involved and exhibit the best qualities!”
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