Public Servant of the Week: Dispatcher Amber Berent

Position: Dispatcher

Duties:

• Answers emergency and non-emergency phone lines for the city,
• Dispatches police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other personnel.

Time with Hopkins: Four years

Other experience: Berent previously answered customer service lines for an insurance company and bed manufacturer. “It’s similar. It’s much more (busy being a dispatcher), but it’s a good base to start with.”

Education: Graduated from Mound Westonka High School. She went through a five-month training course at the with two other dispatchers who started at the same time.

Hometown: Mound

Favorite part of her job: “I like the variety. Every day is something different. Every day I come home, I go, ‘Seriously, I couldn’t have made that up.’” She also loves when all the carefully developed processes snap together perfectly to resolve potentially dangerous circumstances. “In the end, what could have been a tragic situation has a happy ending.”

Hardest part of her job:  Keeping up with everything. “It’s not often, but there will be days when all the phone lights light up.”

Biggest misperception about her job: “That it’s just like on TV.” Dispatchers can’t always tell exactly where people are when they call. People don’t always cooperate. The dispatch center isn’t filled with dozens of people waiting to take calls. In fact, dispatchers work alone about 40 percent of the time.  

Favorite things to do when not working: Spending time with her daughter. “We’re usually out exploring or playing with toys.”

Family: Husband Brian and a 5-year-old daughter.